The light shone through the window in Klisa's window bright and pleasant that morning, landing gently on her face and causing the young lady to wake from her sleep. She sat up slightly the light glinting off her hair, in the dim shadows of her room it looked nearly pitch black, but in the light it was reviled to be closer to a very deep navy blue. She stretched and yawned and turned her head towards the morning sun.

Then promptly scrunched her face in displeasure, violently shut the blinds, and pulled 3 extra blankets over her head. As delicate and good natured as Klisa was, she was certainly not a morning person.

3 hours later, and 5 alarm clocks in various places to make sure she simply wouldn't sleep through the day, Klisa had managed to drag herself out of bed, and after a long bath was ready to face the day. dressed in a blue dress, and her signature red-ribbons to tie back her hair she left her place. She lived in the guild dorms, so it never took her long to make it to the main hall where all the friendly faces were ready to greet her. She came down, quietly, into the guild hall. Unlike many of her guild mates, Klisa was a more reserved sort, though she didn't at all dislike her fell mages rambunctious nature. Being in the energetic, friendly atmosphere made her feel less shy and more confident.

Though Klisa was a bit extra careful at this moment to not draw extra attention to herself. This was her 5+ year with the guild, and ever since she had joined they wanted to show off her Sea Dragon magic at the Fantasia Parade. She had respectfully and firmly declined, not being exactly the one to enjoy that much attention. Every year she had grown a bit more confident and skilled at her magic, and the planer for Fantasia had pushed a little harder for her involvement. Especially once she had become a skilled dancer, now she had two talents to demonstrate for the guild! They were sure she could put on a heck of a show with the right practice. And Klisa was almost tempted to agree, she would love to help out her guild by putting on a great show at the parade...buuuuuuuuut the idea of performing for all those strangers made her nearly sick with fear. So for now she was avoiding the problem all together. Instead she was going to look into getting some work, rent was coming up and she could use the spending money.

One quest jumped out at her right away. A unique little mission in the port town of Hargeon. A joyful little smile began to light up her face. She didn't go to the sea nearly as much as she liked, and always took missions that had her anywhere near salt water. Even a busy, some-what-merky harbor like Hargeon would still smell of the sea and have the sounds of the ocean. She frowned a tad, not exactly sure who to ask on the mission. Or even who would have been free to go. Lord knows she wasn't exactly suited for solo missions with her limited offensive capabilities. She stood before the request board, eyes squarely fixed on the post, thinking on who else may be interested in a mission like this.

Riley was slowly walking down the cobbled paths of Magnolia’s bustling streets, staring at the ground and ignoring all the cheerful laughter and yelling going on around him. He’d never really been into the Fantasia Parade, but he did enjoy the Festival each year. The food was great and he always sat an watched the Miss Fairy Tail pageant in case Mary decided to participate. She never did, which was surprising. He’d been angry at the time, but seeing her in that little dress earlier made him more than embarrassed to admit that she had a very nice body. He quickly slapped himself on the forehead. What the hell was he doing thinking about that? Mary didn’t care about him. She was too old and spent most of her time crushing over Alex. Just thinking about him riled him up, and he ended up kicking over a garbage can in his frustration. A few people stared at him, some even ordered him to clean up the mess. He ignored them. Once he’d finally left the busiest streets he thought he’d be able to walk to Holstur in peace. It was only about half a days carriage ride, but he didn’t have any money for a carriage.

“Hey, wait up a step!”

He stopped in his tracks, his hands balling into tight fists at his side. He could feel his nails digging into the palm of his hands but he didn’t care. He didn’t know why he was so angry at Alex all of a sudden. Alex beating Riley in a spar was a common thing, and while he was always sour about it he always bounced back fairly quickly. Not this time though. He could feel a low growl stirring in the back of his throat and suddenly without thinking he turned around as Alex approached him and swung a right hook at him.
“Just leave me alone!” In his anger he didn’t realise that his footing was off, and swinging around caused him to trip over his own feet and fall down face first onto the ground in front of Alex. He sat there for a while, his face planted in the dirt before the muffled sound of sobs started to appear.
“I’m so pathetic. Yukiko didn’t train me like this. She didn’t train me to lose.” He remembered how proud he had been that first day in the guild, when he proclaimed how he was the student of the great Yukiko Kaname. He even had her famous Katana with him to prove it. All the other guild members were expecting a prodigy; a legend who could match the famous swordswoman’s strength and agility. So when he was quickly beat down by Alex in his first spar at the guild he naturally became the laughing stock.
“If she were still alive no one would laugh at me. Me and her were going to be the strongest wizards in the whole world. She’d kill anyone who made fun of me.” I miss her. Was what he wanted to say, but realising he was talking to Alex ensured that he wouldn’t say anything so pathetic. He stood up and dried his tears on his arm.
“Just hurry up and pay for a carriage. We need to get to Holstur quickly.”

---

The commotion around the guild had finally settled down, and Mary was free to do whatever she liked. She was going around picking up all the empty beer pints and stacking them onto trays to be brought into the kitchen for cleaning. Of coarse the only thing Mary would want to do in her free time is clean up the guild. There were few wizards left in the guild, and from behind her she heard the door of the infirmary open. Turning around, she smiled at the sight of those long, wiry whiskers.
“Good morning Master Pollux. Are you feeling any better?” Pollux was wearing his usual golden robes, his silver guild mark shone brightly on his wrinkled brow. He rocked back and forth as he walked, looking as though he could tip over at any moment. Thankfully he had his cane to keep him balanced. He let off an aura of wisdom and serenity, something that made talking to him much more easier than one would expect.
“Morning, Mary. I’m still kicking it seems.” He let off a slow, exhausted chuckle before clearing his throat with a few coughs. He slowly removed a piece of paper and handed it to her. “I have an old friend arriving in a few days. She hasn’t been to the mainlands in over two decades so I imagine she doesn’t know how to get from Hargeon to the Guild. Tell a couple of the members to go and escort her here.” Mary nodded at the request, and before Pollux could walk away she nervously spoke her mind.
“Are you still researching them? You know,” She brought her voice down to a low whisper, “the dragons?” Pollux smiled at her before walking into his study. Mary was cleaning one day when she accidentally stumbled upon Pollux’s research notes. It seems their master had been trying to learn about dragons; more importantly, the whereabouts of specific dragons. She knew that it pained him to see young James without his dragon guardian and wanted to help as best he could. Not to mention there were rumours going around that the Master was a close friend of a dragon in his youth, before he disappeared as well. She tried not to ask more questions, but she was curious about how far he was getting in his research.

After he disappeared, Mary took note of James signing up for the flower picking request and run up to him with a high pitched squeal of joy.
“James! You’re going to accompany me with flower picking? That’s great! I can’t think of anything better to do than relax all day in a meadow of beautiful wildflowers!” She was practically jumping up and down, her sundress twirling around as she did.

As Rurik spoke, Verin suppressed an urge to feed him an fireball and burn his tongue. Rurik had always been one of those members he had subconsciously steered clear of, and now, as he listened to him speak once again, he mentally made notes as to why he still would. Atrociously arrogant, assumptive, and assertive. This guy's an A class ass. Still.. He silenced his thoughts, frivolously replacing them with words as he abruptly stopped. Causing both his companions to end up before him just as he parted his lips. After focusing his eyes about Rurik's face, he then shrugged.

"Sure ye wise and all-knowing one. Show thy primitives, how it is done." As 'how' left his mouth, Verin entered a deep bow. Placing one hand behind his back while exaggeratedly rolling the other forward in the direction of Rurik. Despite the fact that he was clearly being sarcastic, he had meant every word. He didn't need to be a genius to see that Rurik saw himself as being better than both Chloe and himself. Thus, was curious to see if he could live up to his self-implied illustriousness. Folding his hands behind his head, he then once again began to walk.

"When we find it, you can show off as much as you want. Chloe and I'll just drop it when you fail."

The second Verin had recounted his run-in at the guild, he had realized that Alex was right. Wyverns were supposedly intelligent, -in fact, he was sure this one was. It had to have known he was watching it to be able to react as quickly as it did when he attacked. Not even mages who had expected to be ambushed, when flanked from within his 'kill range', had been able to parry his attacks in the past. If there was anything Verin was now sure of, it was that the Wyvern wanted payback. He knew that nothing 'Sir Rurik' did would ever change that. At least not without their help.

Something Verin was less willing to provide with every syllable that left Rurik's mouth.

James looked up, as his keen hearing from being a dragon slayer heard something said that sounded quiet familiar. It sounded like a word starting with 'd', but because it was so quiet he couldn't make out what word it was. There was a lot of words starting with 'd', and James started to think. Dog, Duck, Dot... James was interrupted from his thoughts as he heard a footstep, turned to see Mary, and smiled, blushing a tad bit. "Yep. It's certainly better than continuously roaring at dummies at the training area. I need time to relax a little." He replied to her, blushing a little more as he said this. Some would expect a dragon slayer to be out there, fighting monsters, but they needed time to relax, too. He felt a little awkward standing next to Mary, as she looked like she had just won a million Jewel in a raffle, practically jumping up and down. James let it pass with a smile, though, completely forgetting about the mysterious word he was originally trying to figure out. He was happy to be with Mary, as she was a good friend.

"As you know, my magic is based around Predators-"
Ugh. That arrogance in his voice made her want to punch him.
-so you might want to let me take the lead on this one.
With a giant stone fist.
You'll probably be able to learn something useful!
Hard.

Rurik sounded absolutely condescending, arrogant, and all the other words that meant "Hah! I think I'm better than you!" As far as Chloe was concerned, he didn't have a whole lot of skill to back up that tone of voice. In fact, if they weren't meant to go take care of this Wyvern together, she'd have already challenged him to a duel and beat him to a pulp. Seriously, she didn't mind following him, as she didn't see herself as much of a leader honestly, but that arrogance was just irritating her. The fact that it was painfully obvious he thought he was better than them, than her, was just plain laughable. She could barely refrain from turning around and punching the guy in the jaw. She resigned herself to doing it mentally instead. Repeatedly. It was a welcome distraction when Verin went to reply to Rurik, and she could barely contain a chuckle at his bow. Verin's sarcasm was just hilarious. She couldn't help but to do the same.

"Oh indeed. 'twould be most marvelous if you could impart your knowledge unto us plebeians." She said, copying Verin's bow. The statement was made with the same amount of sarcasm, if not more than Verins. Unlike Verin she didn't really care if he showed them anything. He didn't have anything he could teach her. As long as he kept that arrogant attitude, as far as she was concerned, he could get eaten by the thing.

"Don't worry though, we won't let it hurt you after you get knocked out either." She grinned. As usual, Chloe didn't seem to concerned with how dangerous this mission could actually be.

Countless fights, hours of training and sharpened senses from years of hunting and wandering, have made Alex nearly impossible to surprise in a fight. All of that was for naught however as he had no warning form Riley, the sudden nature of the attack, coupled with the swordsman own skill left the punch with practically no tells. Were it not for Riley messed up footing he would have taken the punch to the face, as it were Alex just sorta sweat dropped as his attacker face planted 'Okay...?' he blanked as he tried to figure out what caused the sudden attack. Listening to the swordsman he was able to read in between the lines to get what at least get a glimpse of what the young man was really feeling, but he wasn't quite sure how to approach the subject, deciding to just keep silent for the moment Alex just nodded and lead the way to the carriages.

"Geez, what kind of Endorsement request was that?" Alex grumbled as he stepped in to the carriage. They had been held up about ten minuets because the owner had tried to get Alex to give a public endorsement during the harvest festival "I mean seriously "I'm 'Archon' Greywind and this is my favorite store in Magnolia" Blegh" He finished with a shake of his head as he sat down with the driver behind him and the door he entered on the other side of the carriage. Not long after the carriage was on it's way to Holstur, and for the first while Alex kept to himself content to just watch the scenery. Eventually the botched attack came back to mind, mulling over it again in his mind he came to something. "Mind if I ask about Yukiko? All I really know are the rumors and stories I was wondering if you would be willing to tell me more about the person" He asked calmly turning his gaze on to Riley as he did, both so he could gauge the young man's reaction and to be prepared in case another surprise punch came his way. He was treading on thin ice, he felt, best be prepared for the worst.

Rurik listened as they spoke, and began to sweat a little, and then his jaw outright dropped and his eyes went wide. He'd completely failed?! If anything, they were just mocking him! He was way too tired to deal with this, he felt like crying, but displays of weakness like that were against his nature, so he refrained. Instead he just grit his teeth and tried to think of how to deal with this.

"I'm not... you don't..." He groaned loudly, failing to make a coherent sentence. Why wouldn't they listen? He just wanted to help. He sighed, but as usual he was really bad at this whole teamwork thing. It's why he usually didn't bother... which meant he never had a chance to get good at it. The way they were talking to him though, it made him angry, it made him not want to even attempt to explain his intentions. Would they even listen anyway?

Not only did he feel they weren't in any mood to listen, and probably never had been, but now they'd challenged his pride. Fine, if that's how they wanted to play it, maybe he'd just prove them wrong and beat the wyvern himself! The only problem with that plan was he didn't know much about wyverns. He'd certainly never seen one before. If he made a fool of himself, they'd probably never let him live it down. They were already letting him have it as it was. He knew he shouldn't let them get him angry, but he was too short on sleep to control his temper.

"Ugh, fine then..." Rurik growled angrily. He bit back the numerous retorts on the tip of his tongue. He had no desire to make enemies. They were his guild-mates, he didn't want to antagonize them, even if they were infuriating him at the moment. Clearly opening his mouth hadn't done him any good so far anyway. After this job was over, he could just ignore them until he forgot how annoying they were. For now, he just fell back and walked behind both of them. He'd get back in front once they found the wyvern.

Aura Kalstov was seated casually at a table in the midst of the Fairy Tail guild, dressed in her casual clothes. Looking around, she watched as her guildmates chatted amongst themselves and took jobs, bringing a light smile to her face. She was glad to see the ones she counted as her family having a good time and getting work. However, when she read the note on the job board she frowned lightly, Alicia had been working very hard to manage the guild lately and apparently it was starting to catch up with her. She also heard Mary's comment, about how the Master was laid up in the infirmary and couldn't come down. So, Aura got to her feet and strode up to speak with him, deciding that the guild's elder needed to know that his charges cared about him.

First, however, she ascended the stairs to the second floor and investigated the S-Class jobs. Finding them to be lacking, she frowned slightly and mumbled "I need some money." She then headed towards the infirmary, but she paused in front of the door. She wanted to give her master a strong show, so that he knew his guild was still powerful. So, she requipped into her Phoenix Armor and held it's partner, The Spear of the Blaze, in her hand as she opened the door and walked in. She smiled as she did and greeted "Hello Master, I came to check on you. How are you feeling?"

Mary watched as Klisa came up to the board and started looking at the same request the master had given to Mary. She still held the paper in her hands, but it didn’t surprise her that Alicia had already beaten Pollux to the chase and put up the request on the board as well. Mary looked at both Klisa and James; the guilds only Dragon Slayers. She wondered how the two of them would work on a team. They both had some interesting support spells, so it was no question they’d make a strong duo. Mary just didn’t know how well the two got along. Mary stepped closer to Klisa, leaning her head in as the young lady scanned the request.
“Master Pollux would greatly appreciate you taking that request. I heard that this Charlotte woman used to be close friends with him.” Mary raised her eyebrows to Klisa, suggesting that perhaps the relationship between Charlotte and the Master was a lot more intimate than he’d suggested.
“Oh, I wouldn’t say it was like that.” The old mans sudden voice made Mary jump with shock. Turning around, she saw Pollux sitting at a table with his notes already set out. That man moved fast. “I didn’t want to be kept up in my office all day. I hope you don’t mind me working out here.”
“Not at all Master.” Mary walked over to him, peering over his shoulders to look at his notes. It was an assortment of damage reports caused by the other guild members, as well as letters from friends and from the council. There were even a few wanted posters of dark wizards as well as detailed sketches of magic circles. Pollux stood up from his seat and slowly hobbled his way over to the two dragon slayers.
“I apologise for not being present this morning with the rest of the guild. I was still recovering from illness it seems. I hope you weren’t offended.” The master gave the two of them a warm smile, before turning away and coughing into his handkerchief for several moments.

Mary was concerned with the health of their master, but she knew that he wouldn’t enjoy being sent back to the infirmary. For now he was healthy enough to sit with the rest of them.
“The requests are being filled up one by one. That’s a good thing to see. It seems everyone wants enough money saved up to go all out at the Festival.” Pollux smiled when he saw Klisa’s name on the request to go to Hargeon. He turned to her and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.
“Charlotte will really appreciate having the help from you. She comes off as a little rough, but don’t worry I’m sure you’ll get along.” Pollux walked back over to the table and began to scan his notes once more.
“If you’re not departing for a while, feel free to stay and chat. I have big news coming up once everyone returns to the guild and I’m a little nervous. Talking to my children would help ease that uneasiness.”

In the corner of his eye he noticed Aura walking up to the infirmary, obviously going to check on him. He assumed that she hadn’t seen him down there and called out to her.
“I’m over here Aura, please come and join us.” He gave her a smile before going back to his notes. Mary walked up the stairs to greet Aura. Before Master Pollux, people weren’t allowed up onto the second floor, but he decided that enforcing that rule only separated the guild from their strongest members and declared that any and everyone could go up there. Mary stood in front of Aura and nodded her head in respect.
“Greetings Aura, how are you today?” Mary talked with Aura as the two made their way down to where the Master was sitting. Pollux gave a warm smile to Aura and invited her to sit beside him as he went over his notes.
“Come, there are movements in the dark guilds that must be discussed. A lot of cult activity has started to arise and I believe the Dark Wizards are going back to the old ways of rituals and human sacrifice.” he pointed to various locations on a map, his old finger shaking on top of a town not too far from here. “Several children have gone missing from this town. I would have sent someone there right away, but we’re under strict orders from the Magic Council to not get involved. One of my colleagues on the Council is coming to inform me of the current situation and while he’s here I will try and convince him to let Fairy Tail help.” He looked over at Aura, awaiting her opinion on the matter. Mary moved back over to James, smiling.
“So, why don’t we head off on that job now? The Soul Mountains are really close to here so we can get there by foot.”

---

Riding along in the carriage with Alex made Riley sick at first. Even the one driving the damn thing had a thing for him. It shouldn’t have surprised him. Alex had earned the respect of Magnolia, and being jealous of him was a petty display. Riley had just felt so tense these last few days, ever since the last time Alex beat him. He wasn’t strong enough to take on an S Class Wizard, so he thought he’d challenge him to a sword fight with no magic. Even still, Alex bested him. Granted it wasn’t such a one sided fight, but eventually Riley just couldn’t keep up. He was amazing at magic and with weapons? Learning magic with Yukiko was by far the hardest training he’d ever gone through. He didn’t have a knack for Magic like everyone else seemed to, and it took him such a long time just to grasp the basics. He was better now thankfully, but he still couldn’t help but feel as though his magic power was weaker than most wizards. His skill with a blade alone is what got him to such a high level in the guild, which was nice. However he wanted to be a powerful Sword Mage like Yukiko. Alex broke the awkward silence, talking about how popular he was with everyone or something like that; Riley didn’t really pay attention. However upon hearing his masters name, he instantly shot a look at him; daring him to keep talking.
“Don’t say her name!” He shouted at Alex, his grip around the hilt of his blade tightening. He wouldn’t be able to draw it inside this carriage, but Alex knew perfectly well that he didn’t need to draw his blade to attack him. His teeth were gritted and his eyes were ferocious, but seeing the calm look on Alex’s face instantly made him feel bad about snapping. He put Yukiko down onto the floor of the carriage and rested his hands in his lap. “I’m sorry. You don’t deserve all this constant shit from me.” He crossed his legs up on the seat, turning to Alex with a smile.

“Yukiko is the greatest wizard in the whole world! She’s at least ten times more powerful than you are.” The way he talked was like a little kid during show and tell, full of energy and smiles. He lightly punched Alex in the arm, laughing. “I don’t mean to offend you when I say that, but you know, she was the only person in the entire world who ever made my jaw drop. You’re tough and a great Wizard, even I can recognise that. But you know, Yukiko was just on a whole other level.” He pulled his knees up to his chest and began to rock back and forth a little, giggling like a little kid.
“She was blind y’know? People seem to forget that. She was blind from birth but that didn’t stop her! She found another way to see; through the whispers in the winds, the shifts in the land and the gentle touch of the worlds magic. That’s what she told me. I never really understood it but it seemed to work. She may have been blind but she could sense absolutely everything around her and was more alert and perceptive than I was. She mastered the art of the sword and invented her own form of magic to accompany it. If she actually gave a damn about the Council, I’m sure they would have made her a Wizard Saint. The highest on the list!” he seemed like he was exaggerating, but that didn’t matter. Yukiko was the most important person in his life, and he had nothing but respect and love for her.
“That’s why I’m gonna beat you. Not just you. I’m gonna beat anyone who challenges my strength, and I’m gonna become just as strong as she was. That’s why I train so much, and why I fight so hard. I’m her legacy, and I’ll make her proud.” Just thinking about it got him excited, and he yelled out at Alex with a cheerful tone.
“When we get back to Fairy Tail, I’m taking you down!” So much for staying angry at him. His stupid grin spread to the corners of his face and he was happy that he was able to talk with Alex about his master.

Aura, when summoned, nodded and followed Mary back to the Master's position at the table, commenting "I'm doing well, however, y Sou needn't bow to me Mary, I'm no different from any other member of the Guild aside from my power and the requests I may take." She then carefully made her way to the table, taking the seat that the Master had indicated. She gave a light smile and replied to Pollux's greeting with a "I'm glad you are feeling better Master, you worried us." She then listened to his words and carefully looked over any papers within her eyesight, frowning as she did. The fact that kids were going missing was worrying, especially when considering the link to the Dark Guilds.

She narrowed her eyes ever so slightly, commenting "Master, is it possible that this is a deliberate bait? They know that the Fairy Tail guild notices when things like this happen, and I don't think they'd return to human sacrifice, or rather, if they had I feel like we'd have known before now." With that, she gave a soft "Hmm" sound as her left hand floated to her chin in thought. The fingers of her right hand slowly tapped on the table as she thought, and then she pointed out "Why would the council forbid us from interfering? This particular set of incidents is unlikely to lead to any city, and thus not likely to any more collateral damage, so why stop our guild from trying to intervene? I don't like the way that sounds."

She looked over at the two departing on the job then, adding "If you get into any trouble, try to let us know and I'll come aid you. I'm sure that I can arrive fast enough to aid you with my Armor of Heaven." With that, she looked back to the master and requipped into the aforementioned armor to demonstrate. She then added "Should the council choose not to allow us to intervene, master, then perhaps a lone, concerned wizard of Fairy Tail could investigate. As an individual and not a representative of the guild, of course." She lightly tapped the the thin breastplate of her armor to demonstrate, saying "After all, the children of this town are part of the future of our guild, not to mention their complete innocence. regardless of the council's word it is important that we protect them."

Aero woke up, a puddle of drool soaking the left side of his face. He always slept on his left side. If he tried to sleep any other way he just couldn't do it. A mage had literally put him to sleep with a spell once, and he fell on his right side, and instantly woke up.

He got up, and looked around. He was in a two bedroom apartment, one he paid for with his parent's inheritance that was left to him. Quite a large sum of money, it was in no danger of running out, any time soon, or ever really if he invested wisely. The other bedroom belonged to Elena, as he felt it would be awkward for them to share a room. They weren't that kind of team, really.

He headed into the kitchen, where Elena was cooking breakfast. Eggs, toast, bacon, pancakes, coffee, and the best croissants he had ever had. Elena was an amazing cook, although she would never admit it. Anything that he could suggest for a meal, she could make. She often helped cook for the guild, and shops around town, and they had people make requests for special cakes and pastries that they wanted.

"Wow Ellie, this stuff looks delicious. You're awesome, you know that? I mean seriously, you're just amazing."

"Oh, shut up would you, I'm not that great. I just like to try new things, and cooking happened to come easily to me."

"Well, I still say you're amazing."

Once breakfast was served, he chowed down. Elena always cooked enough for four people, and he ended up eating enough for three. He finished, and let out a burp, frost and snow emenating from his mouth. He laid back, relaxing as his food digested. He closed his eyes, content for the time being. Still, there was something he needed to talk about.

"So, I think it's time we took on another job. I've been kind of interested in the one for the Harvest Festival flowers. What do you think?"

Elena looked up, pondering for a moment. "I think that sounds like a great idea! It could be fun, and we could use the money to buy our own decorations."

"That settles it! Let's do it!"

---

Aero looked at the request board, smiling a bit. "Mary and James? Ehh, could be worse."

They were to go to a meadow and pick some special flowers. Sounded pretty boring, but the post at the bottom about the bandits intrigued him.

" At least they're both strong wizards. They'll definitely be good in a fight, if one arises."

"True, Mary is surely.. Yea, I'll take it."

In all truth, Aero was quite happy with the pairing. Especially Mary. Although not a very affectionate guy, he had a soft spot for her. She was easily the prettiest girl in the guild, and incredibly strong. She liked to give hugs, which made most people uncomfortable, but Aero would often hug her back. Something about her just seemed right, and he enjoyed her company, in a completely plutonic way. She was probably as close to a best friend as he could get, Elena excluded.

He also had a soft spot for James. The kid was strong for his age, and it made him proud to see him excel in his magic. He often stood up for the kid, though not too often as to make people assume he was nice or anything. That would be terrible.

James listened to the master talking. Children being taken? Possibly by a dark guild? That was bad. Once Pollux had stopped speaking, Mary asked James if he wanted to head on the job now, and James replied, "Sure. In fact, I think Aero is picking the same quest." Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that Aero had in fact signed up for the Harvest Festival quest. James walked behind him. "So, you've signed up for the same quest as me and Mary. I think we're just about ready to leave. You ready?" He asked.

It's interesting to note that when someone has achieved a certain level mastery of a martial art, they can seem completely relaxed while in fact they are poised to strike. Once again Alex was glad his skill was enough to let him both be diplomatic in appearance and poised to defend himself. 'Whew, past the hard part' He thought to himself as he waved away Riley's apology "Don't worry about it" Turning to more fully face his guild mate as they expound about their teacher, tossing in small comments every now and then such as "None taken, sounds like the stories didn’t due her credit" or the surprised "She was blind?!" Followed by the muttered "I'd love to tell my brother that." Before Alex had been disowned his brother and father had become wrapped up in the rumors of Yukiko, his brother was a fan, and his father was convinced she was a fraud. Banishing thoughts of his family from his mind he let a smile form as Riley beamed as he talked about her.

"Sounds like a blade from the same forge. I was trained in swords first and learned magic second as well" Alex stated after Riley finished "But to be able to do that blind? That is something else, I would have enjoyed being able to talk with her. I know that I would be able to learn something" He continued his mind exploring the "what if's" and "Could have been" of meeting Yukiko "As I said I've only heard stories, never had the chance to meet her, but I can get a glimpse of how it must have been to see her fight, because of after talking with all the people I have talked with and seen all the skills, both martial and magical, that I have I have a rather good eye for how people can grow if they apply themselves, and you have the drive needed to be great. Yukiko laid a hell of a foundation down, you won't be able to take me on for a while yet in an all-out fight, but I can foresee you becoming a force to be reckoned with all your own not too far off as long as you keep at it" Alex Explained, he knew Riley got a lot of flak for misplaced expectations, he knew he was partly to blame for that as well, but at the moment he couldn’t help but see himself in the young swordsman. Always trying to live up to someone else’s expectations, to try and live in someone's shadow. At least Riley was happy with the shadow he was in, for now anyway. He knew however that One day people would compare the teacher and student and finds one of them wanting, so without really thinking Alex found himself giving advice for when that day finally came. "No two people can walk the exact same path to the exact same goal" Words my archery teacher told me once. That's the only advice I can really give at the moment. It boils down to don't try to become a copy of Yukiko; you'll never reach her level if you're always mimicking her. You can take her teaching and make it your own by adding what you need and removing what you don't" Softly he made a small bit of raw magic and let it just flow aimlessly in his hand "Never be afraid to be who you are rather then who you think you should be" He finished quietly slightly lost in thought, before shaking his head "I'll take you on whenever you want, where ever you want" stated a smirking Alex as he closed his hand with a snap, the raw magic winking out as he did "But that doesn't mean I'm going to be slacking off in my own training. You're going to have to work for every inch to catch up, because you and I are aiming for the same spot, after all there is no place like the top" he added, a glint in his eye as he did.
'I would rather help pull them up, then tear them down... dad'

As he read over the notice, Aero happened to look up and see Alicia. He watched her as she walked around the guild, chatting with different members. He didn't trust her, that was for sure. In all the years she had been here, he had never heard a lick of her past, and he felt something dark under her outward personality. He usually had a sense for when something was wrong, and many alarms went off about her. Not necessarily about her, but maybe somebody close to her then. Maybe she was going to be hurt.. Maybe he should go-

"So, you've signed up for the same quest as me and Mary. I think we're just about ready to leave. You ready?"

At hearing James' voice, Aero turned around, smiling. He was fond of the kid, that was sure, and he could hear the kindness in his voice.

"Yea, I'm ready when you both are. You mind if I bring Elena along? She can help pick, and carry a few flowers, and she's really handy in a pinch."

Today Aero had forgone going casual, and was once again in a full suit. Freshly polished shoes, and a black tie gave him a serious look, even though his face was anything but. Smiling, he ruffled James hair a bit, and chuckled.

"You know, we've never been on a mission before. I'm kind of looking forward to seeing your magic if we meet any bandits; Word around the guild is you're actually pretty good."

"Don't praise him too much, Aero. He might get a big head, which will then explode."

Elena walked up to them, elegant as ever. Pretty much the opposite of Aero, she had chosen to wear jeans and a t-shirt, with her hair up in a pony tail. She eyed them both, giggling.

"Y'know, you two look kind of alike. That is, if you were actually handsome Aero."

"Hey.... That hurts..." Smirking, he started to gather his things, putting them together. Provisions, books, a few of his suits, all of his gear, and a replacement pendant for the one he was wearing. All going into the bag, which never seemed to get full. Truth was, it didn't. It had an enchantment on it that made it pretty much bottomless. Much like Requip magic, he could call up anything he needed at any time.

"I'm ready whenever you guys are. Just give me the word"

Mary walked behind the bar once more, disappearing from view when she crouched down. She was looking for her parasol. It looked like it was going to be a very warm day, and the mountains offered very little in the way of shade. She usually wore her armour on missions, but she figured a pleasant walk through the mountains picking wildflowers wouldn’t require such a thing. Her hand touched upon a bright red ribbon that was caught under a couple of dusty, unused mugs. The feeling of the soft, fuzzy fabric against her hands brought a wave of nostalgia washing over her. Her and Edward had skipped practice one day to attend a festival being held in the town near their training quarters. She still remembered the white lily kimono she’d worn that day, and how silly she felt being seen in such a feminine outfit. She’d given up frilly dresses and yukata when she was a kid, and having Edward see her in such a get up was nothing short of mortifying. She remembered thinking about how much of a disgraceful display it was for a soldier of the Rune Knights to be seen in something so gaudy. When Edward had laid eyes on her out of uniform for the first time, he’d stood there with his mouth gaping for several moments. He then took note of how she was turning as red as a tomato, which she had responded to with kicking him into a cart of watermelon. After a brief argument about how Mary wanted to go back to the barracks, the two of them spent the evening enjoying the festival together. Eventually he told her to close her eyes, which she had done reluctantly, and then open them to see a beautiful, red ribbon wrapped around his hand. He said he bought it for her because it matched the colour of her cheeks. Even though he was poking fun at her, she couldn’t help but laugh and feel overwhelmed. Seeing the ribbon again brought back a lot of great memories.

Which is why she had to rip it to shreds. She furiously chucked the tattered pieces of ribbon to the ground, stepping over them and walking back to the group with her parasol left on the counter. Pollux looked up from his notes, and then back at the bar where the tattered ribbon was scattered on the floor.
“Such a shame. You would have looked even more lovely with that, Mary.” He spoke as if he didn’t know the significance of the ribbon. Was he trying to torture her?
“I don’t like that colour on me.” She spoke quietly.
“It matches your beautiful, rosy cheeks.”
“Red looks tacky on me. I hate that colour.” She looked back at James and Aero, a forced smile plastered across her face. “I’m going back to my apartment to change. Head on to the mountains by yourselves for now, I’ll catch up.”
“Armour can’t protect you from your past.” Pollux whispered under his breathe as Mary left the guild. He gave a quick look over to James, Aero and Elena. They seemed to be pretty friendly with each other, and no doubt this would cheer Mary up. Turning back to Aura, he twirled his beard around his fingers and whistled to himself.
“An interesting proposition Aura, but that won’t fool Councilman Plato. We don’t want to give him any more ammunition against us.” Councilman Plato was the bane of Fairy Tail, and the reason Pollux suffered from so much stress. Ever since Pollux had become the guild master, Plato had worked his hardest to get the guild shut down on several occasions. He was a loathsome man whose children ended up running away from his horrid ways, along with his wife, and ended up joining Fairy Tail. As a result he’d become spiteful to the guild and always did anything he could to get them in trouble with the council. Thankfully between Pollux, Alicia, the S Classes and an old friend on the Council, they were able to keep the guild running.
“It’s a difficult predicament. I want to help those children, and even though I have full trust in the Rune Knights; they haven’t made enough progress to satisfy me.” Pollux rubbed his temples, before looking at the group of young wizards still sitting near the request board.

“You three should get going. It would be rude to leave Mary waiting for you at the mountains.” His voice was soft, yet stern, insisting that he needed them to leave. When they were out of earshot, Pollux stared back at Aura and sighed.
“It’s out of my hands, Aura. My mind and spirit are telling me to do something about these incidents. I want to send you out on a quest to go and gather information, but I don’t think I can handle the stress of wondering if you’ll be caught by the council.” Pollux let out a slow chuckle, leaning back on his chair. “I’ve become a very pitiful excuse for a Guild Master. I can see that my time is up, and even though I love my children dearly I think it’s time I stepped down and thought about my health.” Pollux began to scrawl over his papers some more.
“I never got to find what I was looking for. That’s just life, and hopefully when the time is right I can trust someone else to carry on my research.” He gave Aura a smile, shuffling around his robes for a piece of paper. It had a picture magically printed upon it. It was of a young Pollux, as well as a bunch of other people. One of them was a lady with long black hair, and the other was a man with his arm wrapped around someone who looked almost exactly like him. Brothers perhaps. Standing below all of them as a young girl in her teens, a wide grin spread upon her face. Pollux pointed at her.
“This is Charlotte. She was the youngest in our team. We were all adults pressing on 40, but she was barely even 18. She left the guild a very long time ago. She left to do great things. I have no doubt in my mind that the tales of Charlotte, Saint of the High Seas, has reached your ears more than once.” Pollux felt nostalgic talking about her. He hadn’t seen her since she was just a young lady, and he wondered what type of woman she’d grown into. “Don’t let the stories of her worry you. She really is a responsible wizard at heart, and I have no doubt that she’ll make a fine Guild Master. Much better than I ever could in my current state.” He didn’t want to shock Aura, but he felt like he could trust her enough to take the news of him resigning well.

---

Riley was teeming with excitement. He could barely contain himself. It was as if the anger and frustration he’d had towards Alex had just vanished within a few short hours. Then again, this wasn’t a particularly surprising thing. Riley was usually a happy go lucky kid always wanting a piece of the action, but he was such a sore loser that he ended up spending a week pouting every time he lost to Alex or anyone else in the guild. It lead people to believe that Yukiko hadn’t been as strict on him as he implied, otherwise he’d act more refined and noble. It was true that he exaggerated just how harsh Yukiko was with his attitude, but he wasn’t lying about all the intense training he went through with her. Alex’s words of wisdom were hard to swallow, considering he’d always believed that he was destined to continue Yukiko’s legacy. Regardless, that didn’t mean he had to become exactly like she was. He could grow strong in his own away and continue on her legacy in that way. He moved closer to Alex, holding his fists out in front of his face like a boxer.
“Do you think you could teach me to fight without a sword? Yukiko hated the idea of brawling, but I think they’re really fun. I get into a lot of them back at the guild, and I don’t really wanna have to use my sword in them. And you know, there might be a time when I can’t use it so.” He looked away, being too embarrassed to look Alex in the eye. “I guess what I’m trying to ask is if you’ll teach me. I think maybe having a new teacher will help me distinguish my own style. Gramps is old so he can’t teach me. You’re real strong, so maybe if you have any free time I could try and learn something from you.” Before Alex could give his answer, the carriage came to a halt and the driver hopped out and opened the doors. The two of them were met with a brutal snowstorm. The cold wind struck Riley’s skin like daggers and he wished he’d brought along a coat. It was the middle of the warm season and yet they were in the middle of a blizzard. Something about it didn’t sit right with Riley. He knew Mount Hakobe was strange, but this was unheard of.
“Alex, I don’t think this blizzard was caused by mother nature.” Truly it felt as though someone was trying to keep them out of Holstur; or perhaps keep them in.

James watched Mary tear something to pieces, then nodded at Mary as she walked away. He then turned to Pollux, who had told the group that they should be heading to the mountains, and smiled, and nodding in reply. Turning to Aero and Elena, he said, "You heard him, lets get going! Time to pick some flowers." He began to turn walk out the door. Flowers? Ha, what have I gotten myself into? Peace and relaxation, that's what, he thought to himself, as he stepped outside and into the sun, then stepped onto the path and walking even further. Get's me money too. That's good enough for me.

Aura was brought up short in shock by the revelation that Pollux was retiring from his position as Fairy Tail's Guild Master. He had been the master as long as she had been here, and indeed he'd already been in Fairy Tail for a long span of years when she arrived. However, really, what right did she have to be selfish and beg him to say? He'd been willing to take her in as a member of Fairy Tail when she was still young and weak. When it still took Aura's most intense concentration to requip even a basic weapon, and she could barely manage a half-way decent block, she'd been welcomed into Fairy Tail by the master. If it weren't for him, she wouldn't be as powerful a wizard as she was, in fact she may not even be a wizard at all.

However, he had also said that this woman, Charlotte, was to be the new guildmaster of Fairy Tail. While Aura didn't know the woman personally, she'd heard more than a few tales of the Saint of the High Seas. Frankly, Aura wasn't sure how to feel about this, not at all. One one hand, they were losing Master Pollux, and he was simply irreplaceable However on the other, they seemed to be gaining an equally powerful master, and if Pollux was to be believed, and Aura always believed him, she would be every bit as good of a person as him. Though her eyes grew faintly misty, she did give Master Pollux a small smile and a nod of faint approval.

"You deserve a happy retirement Master, but you are wrong about one thing. You won't be losing your children Master, you'll always be welcome in this Guild Hall, and you'll always be a member of my family at least." Aura said this all slowly, and then she added "I won't tell anyone about this Master, I think you'll want to make the announcement yourself. When that time comes and you tell the others about this, I'll stand by your side if you'd like." She then slowly thought and said slowly "Master, if you wish for me to do a recon for information about these missing children, I can assure you I won't be discovered. Even if I am, I can claim to simply be wandering on a day off, and what choice will they have but to accept that?"

Is it really too much to ask for some quiet around this place...?

Damon sighed, sipping on his cider at the guild bar. Of course, he already knew the answer to his own question; Yes, yes it was. The folks at Fairy Tail weren't known for their subtlety, and today seemed to be no exception to that. Verin had ran in to the guild screaming something about Wyverns, and most everyone in the guild was in an uproar about hunting the thing down. Gant simply tried to ignore the riff-raff, sipping his drink, looking through the latest edition of the ever-popular 'Gant Gallery' fashion magazine. They'd been having some financial troubles lately, but managed to keep afloat through a network of devoted fans. After all, it wasn't easy to find a good magazine that put a woman's natural beauty in to a good light. Still... Damon couldn't help but worry about his father's company sometimes, even if he turned down the opportunity to run it himself. He received a weakly update in the mail from the current CEO, an old family friend, and had little worry that the woman was doing everything she could to keep things running.

It wasn't until Master Pollux emerged that Gant looked up. He gave the old man a respectful nod of his head as he passed, before turning in his seat to look around at the guild. Seemed a crowd of people were getting ready to hunt down that Wyvern... And another crowd was moving in on the message board. Had it been an hour already? Gant hopped out of his seat, leaving the magazine behind for anyone else who might want to take a look through. He got them for free, after all... Gant soon approached the request board, scanning it over for jobs. Picking flowers? No thanks, far too boring... Then again, he might be able to convince some lady friends to help out... No, then they'd need to be compensated as well. Baking a cake? Gant definitely wasn't a chef by any means, that would be a disaster... A trip to Hargeon? Port town, possible beach, no noisy guildmates... That sounded perfect!

Before Gant could grab the request, he noticed Klisa staring at it. Ah yes, of course she'd want to go, being a Sea-Dragon slayer. Marcus smiled, grabbing the request off the board and turning to see Master Pollux speaking to the two resident Slayers in the guild. The young man patiently waited for the Guild Master to finish speaking before approaching Klisa, gently placing a hand on her shoulder and smiling. He held up the request, as if offering it to her.

"I saw you eyeing the request. If you're interested in taking it, I'd be more than happy to fill in that second spot. Should be a nice break from all the chaos at the guild, and it's pretty a much a paid vacation!"

Aero nodded, smiling at the kid. "Flowers it is. Although, I heard a rogue group of bandits was seen up there lately." Bandits meant a fight, and he was just itching to have a reason to use his magic. As they headed out of the guild, he couldn't help but glance back , at the request board, and a certain mission.... Hargeon. They were going to fetch a woman named Charlotte. What he couldn't help but wonder was if it was the same Charlotte. Saint of The High Seas, and most feared Captain in all of Earth Land... He had met her once, all those years ago....

---

"Get down kid!!"

Aero was just a little kid, well on his way to mastering ice magic. He had taken up a local resident's request to visit a nearby shrine and investigate what were reportedly "phantoms" destroying the local statue. He had headed out the next day, trekking across the tundra to where the shrine was located on the Eastern Sea.

As he neared the shrine, something was easily amiss. The doors were blown off their hinges, and scorch marks and small fires littered the shrine and surrounding area. He approached warily, using his size to venture across the ice with silence. As he came upon the door, voices emanated from within.

"I told you Rustell, the boss said his intel told him the book was here! It's supposed to be guarded by the spirits we just battled..."

"Jaltaneo, I told you, it isn't here. My probe would have detected by now, and all I can detect is the remains of that Ghost Magic Spell. They must have moved it elsewhere and kept it a secret."

"What are we gonna do? We destroyed Icitania looking for that weasel, and he gave us false information!"

Aero couldn't help but gasp. He'd heard that Icitania had been leveled, and several of his friends had been there, and were now hurt or missing. He had to do something! He prepared the strongest spell he could muster, going into Ice-Make stance. He would have to fight them, and avenge Icitania.

"Ice-Make Lanc-"
"I wouldn't do that if I were you. They'll tear you to shreds before you could finish a second spell. Let me handle this. I've tracked them all the way from Icitania to here."

Aero whirled around, coming face to face with the most beautiful woman he'd ever met. Tall, blonde, and with tattoos covering most of the skin he could see under her captain's outfit, she was very striking. He also noticed that she was missing a leg, and in it's place she wore a peg leg. This peg leg was made of iron, and had a weird shape to it, almost like that of a cannon... She was currently smiling, his surprise clearly entertaining her.

"I'm Captain Charlotte, captain of the Fairy Fin, also known as the Saint of The High Seas. I've tracked these men from yonder Fiore all across Earthland, and I've finally found them. They're after a book that can never be allowed to fall into the wrong hands. Now, I'm going to siege them, and when I say get down, you get down, savvy?"

Aero nodded, stunned almost into speechlessness. He'd never met anyone like her, but he could tell right away that she was who she said, and that she was also extremely powerful. "Will you be alright?"

She smiled, and pulled a flintlock pistol from thin air, aiming it through the door. "Believe me, I'll be high and dry. Now.. Get down kid!!"

Aero dove to the ground, just as she fired. The next few minutes were all a blur to him, as the side of the shrine exploded, and the wizards inside started to retaliate. When the dust cleared, the wizards were tied, and being hauled onto the biggest ship he'd ever seen. He slowly approached the Captain.

"E-excuse me miss.. Where are you from?" He was shaking a bit, awed that she had the power to take on two dark wizards and defeat them, hands down.

She smiled, and looked over at him. "I'm from the Guild of Fairy Tail, in Fiore. I hope that we meet again someday, Aero." With that, she cut the bottom of the rope she was holding, and launched onto the ship.

"But how did you know my na-" Before he could finish, the ship was already moving, sailing out into the ice-riddled sea.

---

As he approached the demolished shrine, he noticed a light coming from under some rubble. As he approached it, he could see a hand lying to the side. Frightened, he began to dig it out, revealing a small girl, about his age, with ice white hair. He couldn't tell why she was glowing, until he noticed a wing, sticking out beside her.

"You're a sprite... Hey, what's your name?" The girl weakly looked over at him, and smiled. "I'm Elena..."

"Don't you worry Elena, I'm going to take good care of you.. I'm Aero Hale, and I'm an ice wizard, just like you're an ice sprite. We're gonna be best friends, okay?"

"Aero... Aero...."

---

"Hey, Aero, you in there dork?" He snapped out of his flashback, to see Elena waving her arm in front of his face. "Uhh.. Yeah, sorry, what were you saying?"

"I said, did you get everything you need from the house? I swear, you zone out at the weirdest times."

"Yea, yea, I got it all. Now let's get going."

Alex knew Riley was a good kid, it was just things got a little hazardous when he started beating himself up over not living up to personal expectations. That didn't stop Alex from becoming much more relaxed, however, when the swordsman nearly started bouncing in his seat. Alex was about to laugh at the kids request to teach him how to fist fight, not to be cruel but more because it seemed that Riley had a knack for asking people to teach some of the skills that they were best at. The mirth died in his throat when frigid air knifed in to the carriage.

Taking a moment to center himself, he closed his eyes a reached out with his other senses. One of the perks of spending years trying to master the skill of molding raw magic was the fact that Alex's skill at detecting magic was practically unparalleled; he could find the residual magic in anything if giving just a moment or two. Drawing on that skill he reached in to the blizzard and was unsurprised to find excess magic in the wind and ice. “You’re most likely correct.” He said as he opened his eyes looking in to the wind, a sense of foreboding slowly growing as he did “Keep your eyes peeled, I got a feeling that this whole mess has gotten a lot more complicated” he added as he stepped out in to the frigid air. Out of the carriage he felt the cold whip through him ‘Not good, the cold will sap strength from us before we can find what or who is doing this’ Alex realized grimly ‘Seems another thing that Force-make won’t ever deal with’ sighing at yet another thing his own magic will never be able to deal with he started digging in to his vast repertoire of minor magic he chanted a small spell under his breath before touching both Riley and himself on the shoulder. Instantly warmth flooded in fighting off the cold, the surge soon died off, but enough heat stayed behind leaving them both feeling neutral to the cold weather “Let’s go”