Having been sent away with tremendous force by Ajax, Oriel had to recover before going on with the battle. "Fuck..... FUUUUCK!" Oriel cursed. She thought at least a pair of ribs had gotten broken in that last attack, or something. To be honest, she would find it really surprising if she hadn't got hurt of anything after that attack. She checked herself all over, passing her fingers through the affected area to see if she had gotten hurt badly. It hurt a bit where she had been kicked, but nothing major.... She hoped. She decided to get into a sitting position, and that's when a sharp pain went all through her body, making her bend over. She pulled her shirt up, despite the close fit, and checked on her side.

A purple bruise was there, horribly standing out in her skin. She put some pressure on it with her fingers and another sharp pain went through her body. Yeah, it was a horrible injury, but she could afford to back down right now, unlike what could happen in a real battle. Fighting Ajax as she was right now would be a horrible insult for both him and her own abilities. She felt bad for leaving Aiden all alone, but she could not do anything and not get out with worse injuries. Besides, she was sure he could handle himself in a fight like that. Oriel decided to cheer on him from the sidelines. After swallowing up her pride and bitting her lip, she finally shouted out. "Ugh, FUCK! I hate to admit it, but I'm out. Fighting right now would be nothing but a joke! So, give them hell Aiden! Kick both of their butts, of that meddling bitch and that conceited councilman!" In any case, they had every right to gloat.

She watched the whole battle with an open mouth. Aiden was strong as hell, but it seemed as if his magic came at a cost, nto to say anything about the lacrima he ate. Dragonforce, Dragon Slayer arts and whatnot. It was a battle that seemed to be battle by titans, had it been not for Ajax seemingly doing things without the least of efforts. She also had to move away several times so as to not get hit by Ajax's random attacks, or well, they at least seemed random. The fact was that he was so powerful that the attacks seemed random. After Aiden's last attack, Oriel couldn't believe her eyes. Despite her injuries, she got up and started running towards him. He seemed to have fucked himself up, despite of whether or not he had gotten Ajax with that last attack.

"Aiden!" She shouted, sounding quite worried for the first time in a while. She arrived to where he was and kneeled down, looking at his injuries and his dragon like features. She started pulling him into a sitting position, bringing his head up so that it would rest over her shoulder. "Fuck, fuck, fuck." She repeated over and over, worried of what had happened to him. She put her hand on his chest, trying to check for his heart beat. It was there and a huge, relieved sigh left Oriel's system. She may have been exaggerating, thinking he was dead, but after that.... Well, it seemed probable, at best, and she wouldn't want that. "Don't just stand there! Do something! There must be guys that can treat him inside that huge ass base over there, right?!" She started shouting at Ajax and Kyou, while hugging Aiden tightly against her.

She thought no one would help him, though, and decided to do soemthing about it herself. "Or just show me the fucking way! There's no way I'm leaving Aiden here for a second more!" She stood up, with Aiden between her arms. He was surprisingly light, or maybe it was just because of her strength that he seemed light. She turned around and started running towards the base. Well, she could always for directions. There must be more people inside there, right?.... Right!?

Annabeth Stagitta- Lamia Scale

In a burst of power blackened by the devil himself at the hands of another Guild's mage, it was finished. The fallen form of Yunin lay in tatters on the ground, mere shreds of blackness fading into smoke on the ground. And yet, his pride still showed through, proclaiming his superiority over their magic even as he faded away. Anna exhaled through her nostrils in disgust toward the fell being, even as a piece of him- a large eyeball surrounded by blackness- rolled toward her.

"Make what excuses you will. The day is ours nonetheless."

And with that, her foot came crashing down upon the eye to crush it into the ground. Grinding her heel into it as she turned about, she turned about and moved quickly to the side of the still unconscious Jeanne. Though a mage who seemed to specialize in healing and defensive arts was seeing to her, the force of her own magic still threatened to devour her, even after the foe was defeated. It was a fearful facet of her magic of choice, and one Annabeth knew all too well.

"Stand back, if you please. Her condition is a delicate one."

Reaching a hand to the avenger's neck, Anna's fingers fiddled with the silver chain hung about it until she pulled out from under the girl's armor a single, silver locket. A locket that, despite the presence of neither lock nor key, refused to open no matter how Jeanne tried to coax it. Annabeth smiled at it, her face touched by a bit of melancholic nostalgia, before she took it in her hands, closed her eyes, took a breath... and started to sing.

"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine...
You make me happy when skies are grey..."

As she sung, a rhythmic clicking began to softly, almost imperceptibly join her voice in the same tune. With a little straining, the source of the clicking was easily decipherable- it was coming from the locket.

"You'll never know, dear, how much I love you...
"Please don't take my sunshine away..."

CLICK

As the locket gently opened, a soft light began to spill from its interior, bathing Annabeth in its glow. At the same time, the burns Jeanne had suffered slowly began to recede, as if the power driving them was being coaxed away from her. Once the burns were gone, the light began to spread outward from the locket- but was stopped as Annabeth held her hand over it. With what looked like a reproachful glare, she forced the light to recede once again, back into the locket. As it did so, slowly, she started to sing again.

"The other night dear, as I lay sleeping,
I dreamed I held you in my arms...
When I awoke, dear, I was mistaken,
So I hung my head, and I cried."

As she finished the song, the light faded back into the pendant entirely, the locks clicked back into place, and she returned the chain to underneath Jeanne's armor. As the swordswoman began to stir, as if waking from a long sleep, Anna quietly and quickly turned toward the surrounding mages and, with a sharp look to her eyes, gave them each a warning.

"Not a word of this, any of you. To anybody. Especially not Jeanne. Is that clear?"

By then, Jeanne had begun to wake, and Anna found her attention pulled to her once again...

Jeanne - A Lost Child

Tiny minuscule footsteps padding with ragged shoes across the rough cobblestone streets were the first thing Jeanne experienced upon entry into her fitful slumber. In the grasp of her tiny fingertips was an apple, and panicked eyes of blue looked to the due of furious pursuers as they swiftly gained ground. Futile as her efforts were, the little child still tried to escape, only to trip upon a stray stone and come to a painful, jarring halt.

"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine...

You make me happy when skies are grey..."

Weakly, she tried to stand. Only to be pushed down and held down by one of the infuriated merchants. Tears crept up as she bit her lip and tried her best to be tough, but the stinging pain of the scrape on her knee accompanied by the biting shame of having to steal food began to survive.

"You'll never know, dear, how much I love you...

"Please don't take my sunshine away..."

Picked up by one of the guardsmen that patrolled then, the tall imposing man roughly took her hand and guided her away from the crowds as the merchants still swore and cursed at her; even as she was escorted away. Finally, as they rounded the corner, the Policeman's voice seemed to echo to even greater lengths as he asked of her of a simple question.

"Alrigh'. This is the secon' time this week. They caught ye' this time, next time they'll take yer hand. Where's yer parents?" He inquired briskly, sternly looking at the little girl, though not to cruelly as she couldn't have been any older than five or six. His bemused expression faded, once Jeanne quietly shook her head in fear.

"Well, fess up missy." He stated, this time more sternly. "Where is ye family." This time, it wasn't a question. It was more of a demand.

In the world outside of Jeanne's dream, there was only a quiet, trembling whisper. A far cry from the steadfast woman that Lamia Scale had grown to know. "Mommy is gone. Daddy too." Her voice, both in dream and out was meek, quiet, trembling, full of fear and misery. She had been alone, so hopelessly, terribly and terrifyingly alone. Sniffling, the girl fought the tears that were rapidly welling in her eyes in vain while they streamed down her cheeks.

She did not scream like a normal child's unhappiness or discontent. She would suffer in silence.

Within the confines of her subconscious, the Policeman reproachfully looked at the child and took her hand. Gingerly, he walked her towards a place that was different. A place filled with light and peculiarities.

Such a place was Lamia Scale.

With a sudden start, the wings of light unfurled from Jeanne's shoulder blades as she shot painfully awake. Sitting up swiftly only to see the surrounding desolation, the Archangel instantly swiveled her gaze about looking for Yunin and his monstrous ways. Soon, as her ability to sense and see gradually returned to her, as did the still healing burns as Niti's magic was still very much at work.

Ever a stubborn soul, she attempted to stand off her bed of petals and winced only slightly as her toes touched the dusted earth. Glancing at her Guildmates, of which the clear majority of them possessed an expression of worry and some even spooked, Jeanne looked at them all with a confused expression. Her first worry needed to be immediately addressed.

"Is everyone alright? Yunin is gone, yes? Tell me that no one else got hurt, please." Spinning bout however, as she looked around her further, her gaze came upon Anna. One of those who had helped her so much in finding the ability to control her magic. Her worried expression turned to one of a warmly radiant smile and even in spite of her biting injuries and ragged clothing, Jeanne dove forward and gave the older Magi a warm hug.

"It's been six years! Too long Anna, how have you been? Sorry I couldn't keep things under wraps here."

Yuuka Wood dragon slayer

She was tired beyond tired in fact but despite all that she was happy she managed to grab a hold of her dragon slayer arts when when needed it most and protected her team mate. "Niti a little help here" she called she knew he grabbed that vine but something about it put her off that she would rather not try eating it. Using her parasol as a cane she hobbled towards her guildmates glad to see that everyone was alive it was a good sight she admitted to herself. Perhaps she would train once more with her wood dragon slayer magic it was about time she overcame her hesitations about it and truly master the magic. Though her moment of self assurance was over when she noticed sage was missing. "Hey has anyone seen Sage I dont see him around." she added pointing out their lost comrade as she leaned heavily relied on her parasol to keep her standing.

The large Dragon Slayer was quick to face Aiden when he popped out of the ground behind him. The pellets were easy to dodge for the most part, given how small they were. The quantity of them, however, kept it from being too easy. Trails of steam notably rose from several spots along Ajax's body, from where they had struck him. One had even hit his chestplate, boring a hole and exposing his skin. But the skin itself only seemed slightly red if anything, certainly not blasted through like the armor.

"Throwing drops of water?" Ajax wondered aloud, mostly to himself. "Surprisingly effective..." The Wizard Saint watched Aiden gain some distance and begin powering up another attack. His yellow eyes fixed on him, as if he was reading into Aiden's mind and soul. The amount of magic he was putting into it was tremendous, likely impossible to replicate without the power of Dragon Force. Ajax adjusted his position, taking a defensive combat stance. Aiden's explanation for his belief, for his attempt at defeating Ajax, was heard, but no response was given. Ajax only maintained silence as the spear of ice was completed.

It was only when Aiden charged that Ajax reacted. "Lava Dragon's Magma Armor," he calmly said, holding both his hands forward with the intention of blocking the incoming attack. His entire body, even his head, became encased in a thin layer of lava with thick rock plating floating over it, giving Ajax the appearance of a black and orange monster. The spearhead was caught in his hands and the attack was halted perfectly, with the Saint losing no ground. Before he could counterattack, however, Aiden unleashed the second part of his spell.

The powerful, dragon-shaped blast overcame Ajax and forced him backwards. His feet skidded across the ground as he was pushed back by the power of Aiden's attack. By the time he managed to regain his footing and halt this attack, the blast of ice encased him, far away from the battlefield. After a second or two of silence, the Saint smashed the ice around him and stood upright to survey the damage. The power of the attack was impressive, and certainly caught him off guard. But as the Magma Armor around Ajax's head slid out of the way, allowing him to appear human again, he began stretching his shoulders.

"That was... more than I expected," he admitted. After the Magma Armor began dripping off his body, Ajax jumped back towards the group, clearing the distance in a single bound. He landed directly in front of Aiden and stood upright. His armor that he had been wearing the whole time was clearly damaged, with several holes and the edges now tattered. The man himself, however, seemed hardly inconvenienced. "Your determination is admirable," Ajax told him, not making any efforts to help Aiden up. "But I am not an opponent that can be defeated with simple determination."

At this point, Oriel finally got up and began growing hysterical over Aiden's condition. Perhaps his earlier guess that they were in a relationship was correct after all. As she knelt beside the fallen Dragon Slayer, Ajax stood over the two with a particularly intimidating stance. His shadow was large enough to cover the two of them, and the only feature they could see from the silhouette was his yellow eyes. "You don't seem to understand your position," Ajax started, his voice seeming slightly more scary than before. "We are the only living things for hundreds of miles. There are no doctors, no nurses."

"Every mistake made out here comes with a dangerous price. Any injuries that cannot be remedied with first aid will not be remedied. Any sickness contracted will go without medicine. And what you will soon learn is that for every rule broken you will have three days of rations revoked. The possibility of death doesn't come from me or any other external source. Your lives can only continue if you two have the will. Otherwise this desert will become your graves."

With his foreboding speech concluded, Ajax looked back to Kyou. He gave her a nod before turning his attention back to Aiden and Oriel. "He's simply exhausted. After exhibiting so much magical power, it would only make sense that his body can't keep up once the magic is gone. He should be on his feet by tomorrow. Or rather: he better be." Ajax put his right hand on his left shoulder and rotated it a few times. "My body is a bit sore from that last one, but I'll be in operating capacity in no time. As for you..." The Saint remembered the blow he dealt her.

"I aimed low so I wouldn't break your ribs. Every human is different, so it is possible I failed. I suppose we'll see if you are able to train tomorrow morning or not. Though do take care to remember this... any training session missed will count as breaking the rules. Three days of food and water will be taken as punishment. Speaking of punishment..." Ajax walked away from the recruits and faced Kyou. "I noticed you used your teleporting magic. I'm assuming it was on Stacy. Will she be back in time to begin training tomorrow or will she only step in once my training has been completed?"



The pink-haired woman's eyes widened in surprise as she turned to face Yunin. "He dodged?" she spoke to herself, sounding genuinely bewildered. His arm had been sliced through, indicating that her attack would've surely done him in. Aside from the fact he managed to avoid the brunt of it. Her moment of shock left her vulnerable to the counterattack, and the blast of wind knocked Hana back several meters though she did land gracefully on her feet.

"Nobody's ever dodged that attack before..." she mumbled to herself, still clearly distraught that her attack had failed. A pain came from her chest, causing Hana to instinctively take one of her hands off her blade and clutch at her heart. "That..." Before she could delve further into shock, the blitz of arrows from a familiar mage snapped Hana back to reality. Her fighting instinct returned and Hana moved back to keep her distance from Yunin, stopping next to Annabeth in a smooth slide.

"Anna-san," the Last Samurai greeted, bringing her free hand back to the hilt of her blade. "You picked a good time to return!" Despite the power of Annabeth's archery magic, it seemed that Yunin took no damage. "This is a tough one..." Hana took a new stance, crouching low with her left leg out to her side and holding the blade horizontally above her head. She closed her eyes again, trying to concentrate. But no matter how hard she tried to isolate herself and Yunin in the world around her, she simply couldn't. Her earlier failure still haunted her.

Her closed eyes notably twitched in pain, but she remained in her stance. "We can try-..." Hana stopped herself, hearing Yunin begin to vomit and feeling his magic lose pace momentarily. She finally opened her eyes, slowly getting out of her stance while Yunin's body was destroyed from the inside-out, with help from a miraculously recovered Sairis Ward. The rain that Yunin had brought hardly lasted a few seconds as a result, and it seemed that whatever realm they were in finally was broken.

In a matter of seconds the battle had been won. While others may have taken the opportunity to relax or possibly celebrate, Hana was clearly not in an upbeat mood. The sword in her hand vanished in a flash of light and she faced away from her comrades. A darkness hung over her for a few seconds as she looked back on the day. "I was useless..." she muttered to herself. Her left hand slowly started moving to her chest, but Hana was snapped out of her daze by the sound of someone singing.

The pink-haired woman turned to face Anna, watching with quiet curiosity as her elder sang to the unconscious Jeanne in order to open a locket kept on Jeanne's person. This seemed to rapidly assist in healing her, as if it simply reversed the effects of her own magic. Hana was mesmerized by the display, though her attention soon drifted away. As Jeanne woke up and greeted Annabeth, Hana faced away from her fellow Lamia Scale members and sat down on the ground.

With her legs crossed, she propped her elbows on her knees and held up her jaw with her hands. The pink-haired woman let out a sigh as she looked over at the deteriorated body of Yunin. Her pink eyes were clearly sad, but her expression was otherwise hard to read. "... Did we really win?" she spoke, her voice sounding much more calm than a few minutes before, but notably more depressed than one would expect from her. With a sigh she closed her eyes and let the world melt around her. She wanted to meditate, to clear her head. But this state only lasted a few seconds before a grimace formed on her lips and she opened her eyes. "We didn't..."



Her red eyes only glared at Gwen. "Hilarious..." Stacy remarked at the joke, her voice clearly layered with poison. With a huff, she turned away from her fellow Ice Make mage. "There's no point," Gwen began, holding one of her hands out in a gesture. "Even I can see that we aren't on that thing's league. Thankfully there are a few people here that are, and it's better to not get in their way." Almost on queue with her words, the realm they were in began to shatter and the fight with Yunin concluded.

Stacy turned to face Gwen again, an angry expression on her face. "I still hate you, you know," she said rather bluntly, crossing her arms again and taking a harsher tone. "I just have better sense than to kill you over the past. I would just love to rough you up some more... but that changes nothing. Picking on you was always easy, but never satisfied anything." She closed her eyes and let out a sigh, slowly tapping her right foot now. "I'm too sober for this... I feel like my head is about to explode."



Finally, it was all over. The bespectacled sniper leaned against one of the buildings of Augustine Town, a notably refreshing environment compared to the hellish version of it they were in before. "Wow..." she let out, looking up the sky. "I was not prepared for this... I wasn't prepared at all." Piper looked back to the time she joined Harpy's Wing. Back then she thought it would be a fun experience where she could master her skills and make friends.

This, however, was entirely different. Demons, illusions, gods, evil. Piper knew that she enjoyed any excuse to shoot at things, but things like this were not in the gameplan. In fact, if several S-class mages hadn't shown up she would probably dead, along with the others that opted to go to Augustine Town. And on top of it all... "I missed my shot on that jerk," Piper exclaimed, sounding more surprised than angry. She adjusted her glasses a bit, as they had begun to slide down her nose. "Oh man... everyone's gonna make fun of me now... I guess I should regroup with everyone..."

After the defeat of Yunin, who would have thought that Sairis is a Devil Slayer. At that time nobody knows but Brad and the Masters about his devil slaying magic, in this time I knew well that the friend I love is indeed a Devil Slayer. September 24, X-814, that day's my birthday and the very same day I lost my family to the Walpurgisnacht but also it was the day that I've overcome my trauma against demons regardless they are still out there. During that time some of us parted ways, some came and fade, some came back, what a tragedy indeed and I don't write sins but tragedies in my journal. It was nice seeing Stacy again, I hate to spoil you guys but she's mostly doing council work. Gray is to Sable and Erza is to Caroline, they both found what they came for and Sage and Lamia Scale were a force to reckon with. As to that, whatever Gray told Sable is something related to Natsu, in my timeline that information changed everything. To my dearest, Sairis, a future without you is nothing but cold and darkness.



Future Sable vs Future Gwen

In this timeline whatever happened to Sable was something we never saw coming in the past, hailing himself as an international criminal as a Dark Mage. Many people died throughout the years even good people like 'her', the person whom I vowed to protect, in this timeline I am part of Crime Sorciere, every time I would fight Sable, both sides will always have casualties.

"How pathetic of you to not comprehend, I don't see any point of sparing you any longer." Sable unleashes a mass energy of bluish dragon flames on me as I evade it. "Dragon Flame King's Brilliant Scorch!" Bluish flames that set everything ablaze, it whirls as a vortex of three headed dragons burning everything into ash in its path. That spell is done with a mere flick of his wrist.

I defend myself with ice but it melted, "Face it Gwen you are no match for me!" He said with sinister words.

We conversed but here on out, it remains a secret and a wonder of what we were talking about.

Sable got angry and throw back words with contempt as we rush to each other and trade blows; "Don't ever speak of her you bitch!" He yelled as we clashed swords of fire and ice.

"No, you have done it yourself. Ice Devil's Zeroth Destruction Flash!" Freezing the whole area in ice but in return my devil slaying ice melts as well as his fire dragon slaying magic disappearing. The more we trade blows the more he becomes powerful and I got weaker; "Tch...." I absorbed the curse power around me, demonizing myself in the process giving me enough energy to match Sable.

"Ice Make: Garden of Eden!" Flourishing flowers, millions of flowers in thousand fold which devours and freezes and exploding, Sable took the hit.

"You really never cease to amaze me. Dragon Slayer Secret Art: Zephyr Scorching Sun!" This is bad I have to cancel it out. "Devil Slayer Secret Art: Zeroth Freaya Wrath!" Sable's attack was a huge sun of suns, 7 sun while mine was purple ice that even slows down time due to how cold it is and slowly freezing everything. Hot and Cold clashes which creates a wormhole.


Sable grinned; "Now let's put it to the test, how will you weigh 'her' life to billions?"He goes inside the wormhole, Gwen followed as they relentlessly delivered blows to each other and through time they did. Traveling in different worlds and time, the last step was different. They traveled through time and their last step was thirty two years from the future. It all starts in Gwen's home, "You see I got a baggage of candies in me." It happened so fast like as if this Sable transformed into a demon, setting everything on fire; but how could he be in two places at once?

He was after my younger self; I got to my to my younger self first and drove her away 300 miles from Sable's reach. That day was my birthday when I turned 9 years old and that's also the day where a religious cult worshiped it as the Walpuria Celebration where a flame demon was foretold to wreak havoc in my town, they call him the Walpurgisnacht. Whatever happened that day and through time, everything changed. Lives were destroyed, the time I know is no longer what it used to be, slowly fading, slowly ceasing to exist. My friends lives will never be the same.

From that day. The story of a young girl all started in the northern country, cold and white as snow like the ice that freezes the time of life. A glimmering and shimmering motion that values life. her home was devastated and was burning in flames of anguish, her tears cried blood, colored like crimson and a scarred heart of a love that was taken from her, her name is Gwen Sniegow. Her home, family, friends, and people were taken away from her by the destruction wrought by the Walpurgisnacht. A young Gwen left with nothing but raging rampage of anger, revenge, and hatred during that day. Who would have though an 8 year old would lost too much in the worse most despicable manner. The thing about losing someone is that it can be fate worse than death and how it is depicted in front of you. That day today is the same day Gwen lost everything she cared about, today marks the 19th birthday in the worse way possible. She never expressed gratitude of her day of birth since then. That's right I used to enjoy my birthdays..... never again.




(Since the beginning of the RP, it was never the original timeline we are in)

---

Staring at the sky, she smiled at the situation. "Ajax, that's enough for today. We've seen enough what the they can do, we got carried away don't we. Stacy is coming back tomorrow but I'm afraid I'll be sending her on missions. Apparently an underground fight in Valdosta and only Magus of her caliber can extract Intel on such dangerous place. As a matter of fact, I'll personally train Oriel myself. Hmm more like we'll take turns." Then she uses telepathic conversation on him. "Looks like the battle in Augustine town concluded based on the archive and don't worry I've downloaded it in your head. This information regarding the Isvans are important, I need you and Greg together and get remnants. We need to study the bodies of those demons and whatnot."

---

Harpy's Guild is restored, is in Crocus just in front of Vyper Bolt's Guild.

Free Roam

Previous Location: Augustine Town, outside the Bubble barrier, Ice bridge.

"Lamia Weasel. Get your ass out there and stop self raping yourself. Everyone, use every blast of magic power you have!" Gwen shouted over her shoulder, making Sage scowl at her.

'Really...Lamia Weasel? Self-Rape?' lower his head to release a sigh he looked at their target.

"Hyouma Zero, Hakka no Togame(Ice Devil's Zeroth White Haze Judgement!)" Soon the air around them became snowy as Gwen and Stacy readied their attacks.

"Well no way around this." Sage took his left Sword as he sheathed Jeanne's flaming sword "Ready?"

"Ready!" Bakuko channeled his magic as it coursed around Sage's body, and into his sword. The sword itself started covering itself with black and Red lightning as he got bigger than the mage itself.

'Condescending enough Magic into a single form, then throwing it and at the same speed as a darkness travels..it's one of Seven deadly Punshiments' Sage used his right hand and thumb to focus on the target.


'Akuma-jū no jigoku shū-ki! (Devil Beast's Inferno Divider!)'

..........

That's the move he wanted to use...but he never got to.

From the shadow behind him, a gloved hand pulled his pants, yanking him and everything he help into the dark abyss.

.................

......



"......." Sage tossed and turned before he laid on his back and slowly opened his eyes. "......"

"What the hell....happened?" Sage sat up and looked around, the ruined town was now replaced with a neat kept bedroom.

"Your awake, impressive little one." the door opened to reveal a mature woman.


"Did you sleep well?" she asked with a smile.

"....." for a brief moment, Sage tried to speak. realizing his own flaw he fished out his note-pad and wrote down.

-Who are you? Where am i?-

"Oh i can help you out here, You're in Vladosta, a half underground city and i am.... Nyarlathotep, but please call me Nya for short." she smiled gently "But to cut to the chase, Sage Ruzuzaki:"

She sat on the edge of the bed and looked at him, her red eye staring deep into his blue ones.

"I want you to Acquire something for me...Should you complete it: I will teach you everything you need to know to about Devil-slaying and beyond."

"What do you say?"

Jeanne - Benevolence

A week had passed since the events at Augustine, and Jeanne slept for the majority of it. Not until the fifth day did she wake, restlessly stirring in her slumber before the sun itself even rose. Blearily waking and stretching her arms out into the slowly rising sun, the tightness upon them brought to reveal that bandages were still very much in place. Softly she smiled as she stared at them before unraveling them from her forearms and shoulders.

As the sun rose in its fiery glory, her healed skin came to bear. Again, very much thanks to the brilliant handiwork that was Niti's talents. As far as she had known at least. Gently running her fingertips along each of her arms, the Archangel continued to unwind from her almost mummy-like state as she strode to the shower to get clean.

Not long after, a slender sundress that flared beautifully to the right side in fiery colors was draped over her figure. Soon after that, a light bolero jacket of shortened sleeves and blackened hue over that. Even still, she strode out from her room barefoot and into the Guild's little makeshift kitchen. It was quiet, empty, and peaceful. For she had woken long before anyone else had even stirred.

It was her chance to at least do something to show thanks for what had been done in the week prior. To show gratitude for the noble efforts of everyone that had shed blood, sweat, and tears alike.

Without any doubt, it was going to be a rather busy morning.

Baking wasn't a skill that she had preferred to come to know, but in the past six years without Anna continually present; it was a talent that Jeanne had to adapt to. Not that she was adept as the older Magi in such an art, but it was good enough to make mouths water and relish the sweets which they were about to partake in. This in itself resulted in a series of fortunate and unfortunate cooking experiments for a year before she finally settled into her own pace and began making quite delectable delicacies.

Into the mid part of the morning she toiled and worked, carefully knotting dough and application of sweets, fruits, frosting and fudge in intricate and carefully intent patterns. Tart pastries, fine cheese cakes lined with delicate and delicious fruits. By the time the clock struck noon, there was a veritable cake shop's worth of magnificent and almost artistic looking treats that lined the edge. She left her favorite recipe, her most crowning effort upon the table for Lamia Scale to partake in of course.



With two bulging bags filled with sweets that she had made, Jeanne quietly left the guild hall of Lamia, with the brilliance of her golden wings spreading wide as she took flight. Carefully, gingerly she would make her way across the horizon to find the homes of both Harpies and Vipers. The latter of which would come first. With a flutter and a flow of her brilliant wings, she landed down in front of the Viper's nest, settling the large and neatly boxed package down onto the front doorstep and touching the doorbell before lifting off easily into the air again.

Once a Viper opened the door, they would find a simple note tied to several boxes of dark and light chocolates layered upon one another within. And it stated such:

As a thank you for your noble efforts in Augustine. - The Archangel.



Once they opened the delicious smelling box, a literal layered lasagna of varying handcrafted chocolates would be found inside. Simply waiting to be devoured.

Smoothly she left such behind, and made her way towards the guild of Harpies. It did not take long for her to arrive. Always one who seemed so incessantly light of heart and light of feet, travelling swiftly was of the essence. Gently, her sandaled feet quietly landed in front of the Harpy Guild, and instead of knocking and leaving; she walked right in. She had been a relatively common visitor, welcome or unwelcome aside. This time however as she brought a sweetened treat, she was sure that she would be quite amiably met.

Settling a boxes down upon the table, she would lightly pluck one up and set it down upon the table. Unfurling herself from the black bolero and bringing the slenderness of her shoulders to bear, Jeanne slowly opened the box for all to see.



"As a thank you for everyone, I made a few of these for you all." She pleasantly stated, patting the column of several boxes which held several more. Adding of course, a humorous quip. "And I believe a certain dark one owes me a scolding."

Oriel turned to see Ajax with killer eyes when she heard what he had to say. "Then why the fuck is it so fucking big? You council people are seriously dumb like that? It's good that he is only exhausted, yes, but what the fuck would happen if he had a broken bone? Or if something inside his body was punctured? You guys need to know how to plan ahead, if only you weren't so fucking stupid." There was no need to be rushing anymore, but damn, was she angry at the guy. Luckily, her own injury could be treated with a first aid kit. She was sure enough that no ribs were broken, she had broken ribs before and it wasn't anything like the pain of that time. She would now take her sweet time walking to the base.

"We have the will. You fucking bet we have it. I'll be damned if I let myself die in a place like this. I may not be a Dragon Slayer, but I also have a few tricks under my sleeve. Be prepared, tomorrow, I'll show you what the fuck is up. Your training doesn't scare me in the least, I'll be completely all right tomorrow." Oriel issued her challenge at Ajax, and damn, was she going to show him why she was better than so many others at fighting. She wasn't at her best right now, but after applying some first aid on the injury she had and heck, she could fight him even after that, but no, she would still be held down, somewhat, with her injury. She'd just have to wait until tomorrow to kick his ass.

After saying her piece, Oriel went to the base with Aiden on her arms. She went to their sleeping quarters, so that she could leave Aiden there to sleep. If he was so exhausted, she'd at the very least look over him until he woke up, just to make sure he was okay. While she was waiting, she also wrapped some bandages around her torso to cover her injury, of course, after disinfecting it and whatnot, standard procedure for injuries like those. As expected, it wasn't something that would last longer than a day. Letting out a sigh of annoyance, she posed her eyes over Aiden. As expected, she just couldn't deal with the diplomatic types like Ajax and Kyou, at least that was how she classified them, with them being in the council and whatnot.

And then she started thinking on how she could go against Ajax. He didn't seem as physically adept as her, even if it was only for a bit. Even if he was towering and bigger than her, and also had incredible speed, Oriel knew that her martial arts and physical condition were better than his. Or at least, she hoped so. The troublesome part was, his magic. She had to go around him with only her regular fire, even if he was resistant, her father would never go out. It was a fight of lava versus fire, and she was plenty sure that lava had the upper hand. The other thing she could do was dodge anything he threw at her as long as it was magical and stick to physical attacks. It was going to be a damned heated up fight. Even so, she was looking forward to it. As it was her custom, she passed her tongue by her lips, trying to savor the taste of tomorrow's fight. Damn, it had been a long while since she had a nice fight like this.

Well, setting that aside, and still waiting for Aiden to open his eyes, she decided to also catch some shut eye, posing her body over Aiden's to use him as a pillow. She just hoped he wouldn't disagree to that.

F R A I L T R U T H S

He could feel the blistering heat in his room, small portions of his apartment--mostly the drywall and wallpaper--was beginning to smoke and blacken. The entire room felt like a sauna with freshly dowsed, red hot stones. For a week he battled the vision with his recent past. The kindness he felt, the love that was given to him... the fond memories of his... friends. But that would all change somewhere down the line. Sometime in the future, they would turn against him and he would be pitting his life against them. Charred bodies had surrounded the burning mound he stood on in that vision and even still, more of his so-called friends were trying to-

A soft crackling came to a hush as he ripped himself from those thoughts. Standing up, he held the still newborn exceed in a cloth on his back--it was wrapped around his chest like baby bag--as it slept. One thing was for sure, this little thing had not betrayed him. If anything, it was backing up from the safety of the sky, though she appeared much taller than the frail infant that resided with him now. He let out a tsk as he tossed the porcelain tails of his scarf over his shoulders and trailed out his clean, albeit smothering, room.

Making his way to Vyper Bolt. He strolled over to Cyn, who had also not been among those betraying him and with a strain on his lips, which quivered with sadness, sat down across from her. He fixed a frown on his face. "I'm outta here. Just thought I should tell you. I think I'm going to travel Fiore for awhile, try and clear my head a little."

Cynthia

Cynthia was startled by the news. Here she was, eating breakfast (in someone else's Guildhall, but so far nobody had tried to call her out on it), and suddenly Sable comes up to her and announces that he's leaving.

"Oh, no you don't." She said, leaving her meal and standing up, "There's no way you're going to get rid of me just like that. Where ever you plan on going, you're not going without me." She came around the table and poked him in the chest, scoweling for a moment before her features softened into a caring smile.

"Besides," she added, softer than before, "what if you get yourself hurt and I'm not around to help? I would never forgive myself if you didn't come back."

She took his hand briefly, holding it for a second before moving towards the door. "Just let me get a few things from my house. How long do you think we'll be gone?"

He appreciated the comfort, truly he did. If not for her, he would had truly thought he was alone in this, so he smiled shortly in response to her words. Then he pulled his hand from hers and answered her question in a deadpan tone. "For awhile, pack for a long journey. And don't think its going to be sunshine and fucking rainbows. I plan on training while gone."

A warning for her and at the same time himself. He would not allow himself to get close to anyone else, not for awhile. Before the vision he wouldn't had mind having someone like her by his side, she would have been a fine arm-piece but now... now she was just another potential enemy. He let out a breath as he fought with the decision to tell her he was leaving, just because she wasn't in his vision didn't mean she wasn't there.

He rubbed his hand with rough touch before looking back at the exceed cradled on his back. That little guy or gal was probably the one being in the world he could trust wholly and without caution.

Aiden

(Later that night)

Aiden slowly came into consciousness later that night, feeling a strange source of warmth and weight next to him. He turned his head to identify, but all he could see was a head of scarlet red hair. It took Aiden a few moments to connect the dots, his brain still aching from exhaustion, but when he figured out who it was, small blush entered his features, though it was quickly banished by a twinge of pain from his right arm. Looking over, he saw that it was a lesser shade of blue, but the fact that he could feel anything from it at all was a good sign. A magic circle formed over the hand, as he didn't want to move less he wake up Oriel, and quickly formed an ice guardian. He gave it a silent command and it flew down the hall, coming back with his current ration of water. He took a small sip, feeling the liquid give him a boost in his vitality, which caused him to flinch again as the pain in his arm grew, the nerves screaming at him for his idiocy and recklessness.

He poured some water on the arm, the liquid taking a soft glow as he poured magic through the limb. 'Water Dragon's Healing Spring.' he whispered silently, and his arm slowly became covered in water, his nerves becoming louder as his arm was being healed but Aiden did his best to ignore the pain. He capped the water and gave it back to the guardian, who returned it to it's proper place. Aiden then just simply laid down, looking up at the bunk above him as he went over what he could remember of the battle, a frown spreading over his face as he remembered how easily he had given into temptation. And he looked down to see what it cost him, noting with a growing dread how much ground the scale marks had overtaken. A small growl rumbled in his chest, stopping as quickly as it had come as he realized what he had just done. That had not been a human sound, it had resonated from deep with in him, a primal sound of displeasure. So the effects of his dragon blood running a muck went deeper than just his appearance.

Fan-fucking-tastic, as if I wasn't enough of a freak before. He gave a soft sigh, his draconic eyes swilling to look at Oriel. He couldn't move his left arm due to her being right on top of it, the hard metal of her chest plate pressing uncomfortably into it, yet he made no move to wake her. He could deal with a little discomfort in exchange for the warmth she brought, which he deeply needed right now. It had been so long since he had actually felt the pain that the cold brought, and with it memories of times he'd rather not relive. So he simply laid back down, snuggling a little closer to her and closing his eyes, letting sleep overtake him once again, allowing a small smile to form on his face. He remembered his somber thoughts from earlier that morning, and while they had not lost any prevalence in his mind, he figured that even if that did come to pass, he'd be glad to have her as a friend. Sometimes, that was all one could wish for and it might be all he needed.

(One week later)

Aiden's arm is all healed up and his mind is mostly clear, though he still feels like that fight with Ajax was a loss due to the fact that he hadn't been able to do anything to Ajax without the use of his Dragonforce. Aiden now has two goals, to figure out away to get dragon force level strength without having to use DF ever again, and finding away to beat Ajax's lava moves with his own using ICe. It would take an unreal level of skill and power, but he's determined to do so. He's also worked on his physical and healing skills as well through out the week, if Ajax allowed him. @j8cob It's your show, man, show us what hell the Ice and Fire duo(v 2.0) is going through at the plotting hands of Ajax and Kyou.

@Hebigami Shiho

Revan

"Later," A groaning voice called from a near by bench were Revan was spread out. He had let his muscles rest for too long, and even though his demon blood kept slowed the rate of degradation, that was still over 35 years of degradation. Now that he actually had a training regimen again, it was all coming back to bite him in the ass, Hard. Not to mention the amount of mental baggage he had going on as well. "I still can't believe I have a fucking kid, that I'm a father. I didn't even know I could have children, I just figured I was like most other hybrid-species and was sterile or something, but apparently not." He rose with another groan, getting up to his feet as he walked over to Jeanne, a yawn escaping from between his fingers.

Revan's appearance had changed a little, with his hair growing longer and wild, his face left untouched by a razor the entire week. He also looked extremely tired, having spent the whole week isolated in an area aways from the Harpy Guild Hall. It had been pretty intense, as the amount of explosions that came from the direction had been near constant and annoying to the residents, though anybody who went over to complain came back with a slightly scarred mind from what they saw.

"Oh, don't mind if I do," Revan snatched a sweet and nibbled at it, looking back at the blonde Lamia with a slightly interested look. "Glad to see that you're up and about again, but do know you have one slap in reserve when I've gotten some rest. While the situation was dire and what you did was probably necessary, I'm a selfish bastard when it comes to my comrades lives and you give me ulcers with you not really caring about yours as much as I would like. You can't protect anyone if you're dead."

@Feisty-Pants

"......" Sage looked at Nya before shift his body over the the edge of the bed.

-Alright, i'll take your mission, if it mean more power...more power than the Trio of Lamia...i'll do it.-

"Excellent~" cooed Nya as she stood up and brushed her purple suit "come along: we have much to talk about."

-----To be updated-------

A week has past, in that span of week the guilds all over Fiore participated in the Student Exchange Program; taking on Job Requests from different requestors, guilds, and talking animals. They are given a minimum of one week to finish their tasks and a month for the longer tasks. It also involves going outside of Fiore into other continents. The Magic Council mediated this event and is held every August.


Magic Council
"Stacy, I have a job for you. I need you to go to the north, the city of Valdosta. Yes I apologize for the surprises such as Gwen and Walpurgisnacht. It's been 11 years since you last set foot on your hometown. Valdosta is a remote city near your hometown. Can you do it alone?" Kyou shows the wanted criminals:





She's drinking wine with her greatest soldier; "You're incredibly clever, Stacy. I am not a parent but I have grown fond of you. In many ways you have shown me what is like to have a daughter." She caresses Stacy's face and long snow white hair while looking at her straight eye to eye, both of them have red eyes. "Unless Aiden and Oriel pass their training, you won't receive any reinforcement in this job, are you sure you can do it alone?"

---

"Yo." Gwen with Sable and Cynthia, not naked as she is wearing clothes, she had been moving around and training recently with a different groups of people in Harpy and Vyper, a while ago she finished training with Nicolas and Xavier. Today, it's her turn to train with Aria. "How long are you gonna be gone?" Her words parallels to what Gray said to Sable a week ago. Before she could continue; Master Man Li approaches the trio.

The old man who looks like a young man laughed, "The three of you have been exchanging partners time to time, like the others you have passed the student exchange program and I am proud that you have finished it within a week." He praises the trio, in a span of a week, viper and harpy magicians have been training under the masters and S Classes. "Talk to me again within this week." He handed out a job request to them but held back and they never get to see it. And he gave them a riddle. "What's lit gives bright and what's extinguished dark. In the mountains where its cold, shimmering sun's kiss takes fold. If you can solve that riddle, I can give you the job. Sable, it's the perfect time for you to prove yourself, if you pass this, you may so leave." Man Li remembered what Gray told him along with Erza, he spaced out for a while.

---

"On behalf of Master Kat. Nigel, Piper. Master Kat is coming home soon. I need the both of you to decide a team four to five. We'll be designing the uniforms for the Grand Magic Games for both our guilds. Looks like in a span of week you guys have earned yourselves baby Basilisks." Master Liem have been training and giving requests to Nigel and Piper. Dungeon Hunting requests with exotic things and rewards and whoever those that came with them as well. "I recommend Kyuuten and Bristlebane." He said.



"Matt, Brad, Nathan, and Sai." They meet with their respective successors, Master Jak is to Sairis and Brad while Master Chak is to Matt and Nathan. "Do you know why we you are here?" They asked them.

---

With Aria and Ivory; "Do you know why you are here? First of all the both of you have finished the student exchange program in 3 days which is the earliest."

Student Exchange Program: The event that happened last week with Vyper, Lamia, Lunar, Sabertooth, Blue Pegasus, Mermaid Heel, and Harpy. Mages mingle in different groups and complete certain job requests.

"On behalf of Master Kat, you need to know this."

@Sharyxe
@Vongola_Hasayo

---

In a Lamia Scale, Xavier, Reina, and Nicolas now a trio. They are the new batch of exchanged students that are grouped with Niti and Yuuka.

---

Somewhere in Crocus; in the alleys, an experiment is taking place; for the past week one hundred times have the Mages that have pink hair been massacred by a young boy with white hair and red eyes.

The boy just got out of a convenience store. On top of the buildings is a pink haired girl with magical goggles and sniper. "Project Ishgal Saint Resuming over. Preparing shooter and micro-macro bullets over, says Cynthia as she prepares to shoot over says Cynthia with a reassuring expression." She then proceeds to shoot the boy.

Just as he was leaving, Gwen stepped in front of them. He turned his face from her, the frown on it had tightened the muscles in his jaw. She had been ease dropping on them. He thought he had smelled her when he walked in. Stuffing his hands in his pockets, he adjusted the straps of the cloth carrying the baby exceed with a small leap. He flared his nose in defiance of her question.

"Don't worry about it. Just know I'm leaving."

In his frustration with Gwen and his thoughts on the Guild's betrayal, he didn't noticed Master Li's scent or his appearance nearby. As he caught sight of the forever-youthful Guildmaster, Sable felt his heart tear once more, for Man Li had his utmost respect and admiration. And yet...yet-

He bit the bottom of his lip, drawing blood from it as Master Li spoke. In the midst of his thoughts, he could have sworn he heard riddle. He was never good at puzzles so he tossed it in his mental trash can and instead skipped to the part about him leaving. So Master Li had been keen on his mood change. He always was paternal in that way. A man who could see the change in his children like a hawk could a fresh kill.

Sable let his gaze fall from the man as he nodded slowly in agreement. He would not argue with the Master but he also refused to stay in a guild that would betray him. He would solve this mission and when he came back, he would leave Vyper Bolt behind him. Cringle too. It was time he stopped dreaming of her, of the girl that once save him from his dark past. Keeping his eyes from the Master, Sable slowly started to walk by the man, not a word from his lips, only a grimace as he walked out the doors.

I'm sure Gwen or Cyn can figure out that riddle and get the mission.

The Black haired woman motioned him to follow, walking out the door the blue eyed mage looked around before touching his stomach, getting a response from the black beast, he followed.

"Welcome to my humble home Sage-kun, right of the coast of Valdosta, but a beautiful scene of the Red line Ocean." she admired the view as they passed a window. "You might be wondering why i pulled you from the hell known as Augustine Town to here. It's simple really, I've taken a fancy to you." she turned her head and smiled, fixing her glasses she turned her whole body around to meet him.

"I've known that you've been housing a Legendary Devilled Beast. Bakuko of the Black Voided Heaven. Her glasses gleamed of the reflection of the sun as Sage looked Surprised. The boy wrote down something and passed to her.

-You seem know a lot about Sensei, what is it to you?-

"My, a polite young man we have here" Nya giggled "Let's say that i study demons and Rituals: i know everything to know about them. For Example," Nya held out her hand.

Tiny Particles of dark matter started appearing above her raised hand before it became a dark orb. "Ha!" giving another burst of energy, the orb took the form of a book "I know the Ritual to summon one of the Seven gates of hell." She held the book out.

"A gift for you." To Sage.

-You're giving me, a Book: one of Zeref's collection, and you happen to know a ritual that can summon?-

"Jealous?" she laughed before turning her back on him "It is up to you how you want to use that book, I merely summoned it, calling one of the is a another task itself." she smirked "We will take more about that later, we have more important matters to talk about." leaving him in the corridor. Sage narrowed his eyes before putting the book into his backpack. She was right, there were more important matters to attend to.

.........10 minutes later...........

As they entered into her study room , sage noticed the large pin-up wall of Earthland with all notes and Pictures. beside it was a table littered with paper and pen. "You'll have to forgive me for the mess, my recent studies have got me rather busy." she clasped her hand together in forgiveness.

-Your fine-

"Anyways, let me tell you something about this mission i have for you...." she smiled.

"How well do you know about the Origin of Earthland?"

-It's something i haven't though about, why?-

"Then let me put it this way: Would you like to help me discover the origin of the one magic?"

Jeanne - The Archangel

Revan's approach while to some might have seemed sinister in some way only caused a coy smirk to be quipped upon the Archangel's lips. Slowly, the wings of beautiful light dissipated as the feathers fell to the earth. There, they would linger for a few moments before fading at last. It was a simple mark to make, one that signified her intention not to just immediately leave and depart. For it was the least she could do, especially after she had frustrated Revan like so.

"Well to be fair Revan, I think I stole the sleep that you lost. I haven't woke for about five days. Much thanks to Niti's handiwork, I presume." His concern over her possibly dying, and stressing over it was touching at least, yet the Archangel would never dare show it in any way. "Well thank you for your concerns Revan, but I assure you that I have everything under control. Fair enough? It isn't like you want me to be in the upcoming Grand Magic Games, correct?"

One week later and the words in his mind still remained. Kuro was still in his bed, in Lunar Guild, just as the morning sun rose from the horizon. The quote still rings in his head... as fresh as it was when he first heard it.

You have defeated a great evil...

Become one with magic and find us within Mensis.

Mensis... Mensis... Mensis...

What did the voice mean? Sure Lucifer was an important target and all, after all he was only doing was his job, but his death signified something. Mensis... what is that? It sounds awfully familiar. From what he knows it means month, but in this situation it should be something more. And what did they mean by becoming one with the magic?

Then it hit him...

He remembers hearing Mensis... for a village. It was quite a vague description he heard, not more then several months ago, but yet it suddenly blooms for Kuro's enlightenment. According to what he remembers, it's a village towards the east of the continent, along the face of the mountain. Kuro had never seen this village before, so he doesn't even know what it looks like. In fact, Mensis was not documented on ANY map what-so-ever. However, he does know the general location where it may be in. It shouldn't be too far from where he is now. His whole body began to shake in hyperactivity, urging him to get up and go over there. He had no choice but to go along with what his senses tell him. So he takes a quick shower, packs up things for the trip, and heads on out of the Guild building. It will take him several hours for him to get to the general location.

---

Matt was summoned by Master Jak, along with Nathan for an unknown briefing.

"You tell me why I'm here." he snorts with an animalistic growl, "One moment I see myself drinking with Brad at a Pub, the next I see myself here... with Brad over there with Sairis..."

---

A sigh of relief escapes Samir's warm and beautiful lips as she bathes in a public hot spring. She had been training herself furiously for the last few days, mostly to keep her from getting rusty, and now was the perfect opportunity to rest her mind and soul. It felt just... absolutely relaxing.

"Nine hundred ninety-eight, nine hundred ninety-nine, one thousand..." Unlike her usual attire, Hana wore grey sweatpants and a white t-shirt, tucked under her pants to keep it under control. Her long pink hair was tied into a bun, held with two chopsticks in a cross pattern. Most importantly: she was upside-down, her feet in the air and only supporting her body with her left arm on the ground. After her final push-up, Hana brought her legs down and slowly stood upright, letting out a sigh of relief.

Once on two feet, she wiped some sweat from her brow. Her exercise regimen was always considered intense, even "crazy" by some, and it always did a good job at tiring her and expending some extra energy. With the exercises completed, Hana had no need to keep her hair tied up and out of the way, so she removed the chopsticks and let her hair down. Despite being a satisfactory warm-up, her expression didn't show any signs of satisfaction. If anything the Lamia Scale paragon seemed depressed and distracted. She looked down at her left hand and flexed her fingers a few times.

After staring at them for a moment, she clenched her fist and brought it down to her side. "I may need to double my training..." Hana muttered to herself, walking to the door of her bedroom. Like most members of Lamia Scale, Hana lived in her own apartment at their boarding house. Her room was surprisingly plain, but also fairly clean. The bedroom merely had a bed and a nightstand with a lamp on it, not even a clock or calender or a window to liven it up. The walk-in closet was the only stand-out thing about the room, and even then it merely contained clothes.

Walking into her living room, Hana looked up at the calender on the wall near the kitchen (which was surprisingly devoid of cooking utensils). It had been a week now since the battle at Augustine Town. Jeanne had recovered and Annabeth was still at Lamia Scale. Hana was initially upset that Anna might take another long job, but so far she had settled back down at the guild. While things had calmed down, Hana has been busy. She had always trained fairly often, keeping a routine to stay sharp. But lately she has been training every day, spending every morning exercising her body and perfecting her skills.

Her pink eyes floated away from the calender and over to her living room. There was no couch or chair to sit on, but a simple yet comfortable mat on the floor. The pink-haired samurai sat down with her legs crossed and placed her elbows on her knees. With the fingers on her hands interlocked with each other at the center of her position, Hana closed her eyes and took a deep breath. The room around her began to fade away, leaving her in a white space devoid of distractions. There was a moment of silence as she could properly meditate, but the sound of two katanas clashing and a brief image of her father appeared before her.

When she slowly opened her eyes, Hana found that she was only in her room. A glance at the clock confirmed she only managed ten seconds of meditation before being distracted. "I can't concentrate..." she confessed to herself, giving up and standing from her position. "I'll try again tonight." With that resignation Hana returned to her room and returned moments later, fully dressed and ready to take on the day.

Some time later, Hana walked into the Lamia Scale guild hall. Unlike her depressed state before, a smile was already upon her face. Her infamously pleasant nature had to be maintained, even if something was bothering her. Several people waved and greeted the Last Samurai, to which she returned the kindness before moving on to find Lyon. "Lyon-sama," Hana greeted. "Have you seen Jeanne? I wanted to check in with her and see how she's doing before I take a job today." The pink-haired woman also began to wonder where Annabeth was, as she also wanted to see her. It'd been over six years since she left, there was so much to talk about.



The red-eyed, pale woman looked at the profiles of her targets. She swirled the glass of wine in her hand as she examined the targets. A smirk formed on her face and her eyes went back up to Kyou. "Of course I can capture them," she proclaimed, bringing the glass to her lips. Unlike the sophisticated manner she seemed to be displaying, Stacy proceeded to drink the entire glass in one gulp. With a pleasured sigh, she looked back to Kyou.

"I don't need reinforcements. Not if they're in the north. That environment favors me, and if they're close to my hometown then I have a good advantage of knowing the lay of the land." Her free hand began twirling her long, white hair as she spoke. "If this information is accurate, it'll be a breeze. Piece of cake. Sons of bitches will be in custody within three days... Even faster if..." Stacy almost mentioned Kyou's ability to teleport other people, but she knew the queue wouldn't be necessary. It seemed as if Kyou enjoyed teleporting Stacy around as it is, so this would work to her bold claim's advantage.



Over the past week, Ajax had made sure to give Aiden and Oriel a mixed bag of training regimens. Each and every one, of course, being incredibly arduous and exhausting. From physical conditioning to pushing their magic to the limit. But today he wanted to do something different. Ajax waited at the base of the ladder to the outside, having already had his simple breakfast and prepared for a day of training. Once Aiden and Oriel were prepared, they would inevitably find him waiting in the only hallway the base had.

"As Magus Hunters," Ajax began, crossing his arms over his chest. "You are expected to be strong, to defeat many dark mages, most likely at the same time. But you are also expected to be smart, to track down these evil men and potentially outwit opponents that would otherwise be too dangerous to take on." His yellow eyes went over Aiden and Oriel. "I sent the request several days ago and your target arrived last night. A convicted criminal and former master of a dark guild. I gave him a very simple task."

"I told him that if he kills the two of you, he will be released from prison." Ajax looked up the ladder towards the hatch that led to the desert. "He is a strong mage, but his real danger comes from his craftiness. And the environment here suits him well, being he is a sand mage." Now his gaze went down to Aiden and Oriel again. "He's had several hours to prepare for the two of you. I know he didn't run, because he isn't foolish enough to attempt crossing this desert without supplies. There may be traps, he may be waiting far from the base in order to wear you down with travel. In all likelihood he will ambush you. In addition to his own knowledge of combat, I gave him a basic ideas of what you two are capable of."

The large man paused now, to give the recruits some time to comprehend what he just said. "Your objective is to recapture him and survive. Your foe is strong, cunning, and has a homefield advantage of sorts. A comparable position you will find many future enemies having, so it will be a good experience. Due to the extra-dangerous nature of this training, I will supervise and only intervene if you two fail completely. I don't intend to let you two die, simply because I don't intend to let this man go free, but grievous injuries you may receive will certainly affect your future performances."

Now Ajax stepped out of the way of the ladder. "By now you two understand the law and the rules of the Magus Hunters fairly well. Depending on how this goes, you may not need much more entry training. Aiden, Oriel. You are close to becoming Magus Hunters, but you are still only recruits. Don't let small or petty things distract you from your goal. His name is Claudius, commonly known as The Pharaoh. He's the only living thing out there aside from you two, so I shouldn't need to explain what he looks like. You can go when you please, though the longer you take formulating a strategy from the safety of the base, the more time Claudius sets up traps or comes up with his own strategies to handle the two of you."



-to be added later-