Masahiko turns to look when he hears Grane approach then shrugs, "Eh, doesn't make much of a difference either way. Besides I was hoping to buy some time for you to get here. Can't have the magic council without you Grane. Without any of us really," he nods when he suggests they leave, "Indeed. Besides I'm interested how things will go. And maybe find Sayuri..." He walks out a little ways behind Grane and waves at the crowd for a second before stopping and simply walking to where the others were, 'I wonder how things are with Sayuri... Hopefully they're going well. I also hope that she didn't run into him yesterday...'

Damian closed the distance with the spear wielding lad quickly, bringing his sword up to deflect a thrust even as he summoned a second Ares Blade and brought it up towards his gut. "The hell is your problem boy?"

Adiaan's eyes blazed black as he leaped backward in shock at the stranger. This isn't any of your business so I suggest you leave off!" a large black circle of flames erupted around the pair and sped toward Damian, the flames quickly went a light blue and disappeared just before they reached Damian, Adamine pulled her robe around her in concentration as she watched her twin brother carefully as he quickly brought up his spear and swung it in an arc toward Damian.

"Adamine may not have her guild mark, but she is still a member of Phoenix Wing. Don't think I'm going to stand aside while you attack her!" Damian expertly spun under the spear slash and moved into his opponent's guard, delivering a series of rapid punches to his chest before slamming his foot into the guy's chin.

Adiaan took the hits to the gut with a groan and threw up a fire wall between them, with a rage filled yell black fire sprung up all around them and Adiaan thrusted his spear through the wall of fire before Adamine could put it out as she was putting out each black flame Adiaan conjured.

Damian watched the wall carefully, but didn't see the spear tip in time, grunting as it dug into his shoulder. Grabbing the haft, he pulls it out then pulls the boy back into view, spinning the blades and changing to the Hermes pair. "Triple Blade!" Three blades appear and rush at the spear wielder from three different direction, trapping him between them.

With a sneering growl Adiaan threw himself sideways choosing one blade to hit him in the chest. On impact black flames exploded outwards knocking even Adamine backwards, and Adiaan laid on his back, ond hand clutched to his chest. Sitting up he hisses in pain as his eyes leak black flames, narrowing his eyes he shoots a large flaming black ball at Damian with immense speed.

Damian summons another Blade Shield and puts it between him and the fireball, flying back from the resulting explosion. Groaning a bit, he stands up and dismisses the shield, calling down a Blade Rain to fall on the spear wielding young man and then closing the distance and unleashing a barrage of slashes and thrusts intended to keep him on the defensive without causing real damage. "You're outclassed. Give it up!"

Adiaan rolled sideways and came up engulfed in flames, he back peddled trying to keep up with the attacks. Conjuring another flame ball, this one at close range, he throws it at Damian, but it flashes blue and is gone. With a frustrated growl Adiaan lunges toward Damian and shoots small lines of flames in every direction that seem to explode on impact.

Leaping up and over the frustrated man, Damian flips and brings his momentum to bear as he lands hard behind him and slams his elbow into the boy's back before spinning and leaving a gash across his back. "Damn it all, surrender! You can't win this!"

With another yell, Adiaan explodes his flames outwards pushing Damian back with the force. Getting up, he quickly moves to Adamine and grabs her wrist and pulls her close as he glares at her with his black eyes You killed mom and dad, didn't you?!" Adamine's eyes widen as she can physically feel his rage. "I- it was an accident, I didn't mean too Adiaan!" With a disgusted rage filled snarl Adiaan brought his spear up with both hands, intending to run his sister through.

Once more, time slowed down for Damian as the spear rose up, and unbidden, a memory rose to front of his mind.

---

"-back. Fall back! There are too many of them!" Joseph had always known when a battle was going south and was sending the order to all his men to fall back to regroup. The walls of the outpost had been over run hours ago, but the defenders of Fiore's borders weren't so easily pushed back. For every loyal soldier of Fiore that fell, ten more of the invading Mistralians did. Damian, only ten at the time, had been among those at the front, helping to fight and doing just as vicious a job as the older men, even if he hadn't yet killed anyone. By now, the beleaguered members of the Fiore garrison saw any invader out of the fight as good. However, when the order to retreat came, he didn't hesitate, running back towards the camp that had been set up as a secondary defensive position as fast as his legs could carry him.

Still, he could hear the sounds of battle as he got closer and knew that he hadn't been fast enough. Upon clearing the tree line, he balked in fear and worry. Tents were in flames, the civilians of the camp, women and children who didn't know how to fight, or couldn't, fleeing as the men who'd reached the camp first fought to buy them time. "Damian, what are you doing? Get in there and get what you can and run!" Damian watched as Hank, a kind man when off the battlefield, ran to join the others on the front and Damian did as he was told. Don't want to upset father or mother by getting myself hurt or killed. Reaching their tent, he ducked inside and grabbed the only thing that mattered, a locket his mother had given him for his birthday two years back, and ran back out, only to be confronted with a horrifying sight. Frankie, another boy in the camp and a close friend of Damian's, had been cornered by a Mistralian wielding a spear and was cowering as the man rose the spear to kill him.

"No you don't!" He didn't hesitate, didn't pause, simply rushed forwards and plunged the sword he'd been holding through the spearman's back, who uttered a surprise yelp before falling sideways, his spear clattering to the ground after falling from limp hands. Damian didn't flinch as he felt the warm blood soak his hands, didn't let go of the sword until the spearman quit yelling. Only then did he let go of the sword, after realizing what he'd done.

---

Damian snapped back to reality and looked down, a single Ares Blade in his hands as the point of the magical blade poked out the spear wielding boy's chest. He let go of the hilt as the spear, as the one so many years ago had, clattered to the ground, the hands that had held it limp. The body fell to the side and the blade vanished in a shimmer. Damian looked at his hands, blood covering them once more, and then at the boy who was slowly dying. "Damn it..." Damian walked over and helped Adamine up and then lead her to her brother, letting her get in her last words.

Closing her eyes Adamine composes her self, she'd gone through this before, she just didn't think it would have happened again, resting her hand delicately on his chest she watches the last of his small black flames flicker and die out with a puff of smoke. "I'm sorry Adiaan" she wasn't sure what else to say as he took his last breath. Steeling her emotions she drew up her hood and glanced at Damian "Thanks" she meant it, she knew her brother was in a much better place, she knew how he had been feeling, and it certainly wasn't good, snapping herself out of her thoughts she looked to Damian again "What do we do now?" she didn't want to ask what they were supposed to do with her now dead twin brother, she didn't think she'd be able to take it.

@Lunarlors34@rivaan

"They sure are!" Anya told Arthur, smiling happily. "Yea, we're preeetty famous and stuff, it's kinda cool. People ask questions and stuff about what the guild is like all the time, kinda overwhemling at times though." She replied to Janna, shrugging. "I'm sure it'll be fi-" she started to say, before backing into and nearly falling over a bench.

She landed on her back in the middle of the bench, luckily it was un-occupied. She quickly shimmied off the bench and stood, looking around her face red in embarassment. She wondered how exactly she'd managed to live so long as clumsy as she was. "...point taken.." she mumbled, straightening her shirt and resuming walking alongside Janna, this time facing forwards.

"True enough, but they'll still find a way to win. They're the strongest after all, nothing aside from an apocalytpic event could cost them the win." Anya replied calmly, hoping to quickly divert any and all attention back to the discussion at hand.

Then Janna mentioned something about getting kicked out due to her magic, this intrigued Anya. Surely if a guild accepted her and her 'special' brand of magic, they'd have no trouble accepting Janna. "Ooh, interesting. You'll have to show me what it is sometime. I'll show you mine later too, kinda dangerous to do it out here though..especially if it gets on someone." Anya replied, finishing the sentence absent mindedly, thinking about what'd happen if she gave a demonstration of her magic out here.

She'd probably get lynched, or worse. "You could probably ask Master Jamie about joining Phoenix Wing, she's nice like that." Anya told her, smiling.

"Ooooh, what restaurant? I'll have to stop by sometime if you're as good a cook as you say." Eventually in the distance she could see the massive stadium and crowds cheering within. "Ooh! We're almost there!" She said, gasping in awe at the massive building, her walk slowing to a crawl.

Ba dum. Ba dum. Ba dum. My heart felt as if it had skipped a few beats. I wiped a single bead of sweat that began rolling down the side of my face. My hands also began to feel a bit clammy. Why was I so nervous? Then, my senses kicked in and the noise was so overwhelming that I could hardly hear my own thoughts. The crowds roar left a ringing sound in my ear. That's right, I was participating in the Grand Magic Games. Ahead of me was my opponent, but oddly enough, I could not make out exactly who it was. The only feature that stood out were his gleaming red eyes. The rest of the being just seemed to resemble a dark, mysterious silhouette. The period of time that took place for the match to start felt like forever, but it eventually came. My adversary then let out a burst of speed as he came zooming right towards me. 'Go left!' I tried telling my body, but I couldn't seem to move whatsoever. I looked down at my feet to see myself slowly sinking into the ground, as if it were some form of quicksand. I then tried using my magic. No use. Something was very, very wrong. 'H-Help!' I cried out. I looked back up once again to see that the crowd had vanished, and all that was left in this now-eerie arena was myself ... And the frightening gaze of my opponent who was now standing right in front of me. That didn't last long, however, as the arena soon began to fade and shift into what looked like the house that I had just run away from. Those peering red eyes, they belonged to my father. That opponent standing in front of me had just become him. However, my mother was here this time, as well. This scenario, it looked all to familiar. My mother crying and begging for mercy with my twisted father standing in front of her, holding a gun to her forehead. My heart began to beat faster and faster. Ba dum. Ba dum. Ba dum. The tension was rising and I could see the trigger move just as I screamed out for my parent.



The alarm had just gone off. Essence shot upright in bed, trying to stabilize her breathing and heart beat. "Goodness gracious Essence, get it together please." She said out loud to herself. She reexamined her surroundings to find that she woke up in the same place that she fell asleep in last night. That'd be the Castor's Inn, a hotel in which she had been staying in in order to watch The Grand Magic Games! It was the third day of the games, and Essence was just as excited as ever. She guessed that many people were already there, so she tried to hurry as fast as she could to get ready. As Essence got ready, she couldn't help but think about that nightmare that she had just awoken from. "No! Essence Lux, you will not get yourself down just because of some irrelevant dream you had! You are here to watch the Grand Magic Games! Now come on and get excited!" She had just scolded herself. "WOO!" Essence proclaimed with a booming voice. Then a bang came from the room next door along with an angry voice yelling to be quiet. 'Yeesh, what a buzzkill.' She thought to herself. After getting ready, Essence then began to head for the arena.

Standing in front of the arena, Essence once again stopped to take it all in. 'Wow ... Being here will never cease to amaze me.' She thought. Essence then looked around to see all of the arriving spectators. ' Well, here's for another magic-filled, good day!'

"Ah." Mayt would say simply as James told about how he came to be the swordsman he was. He would glance over at Cody, before looking around the grounds for anything to talk about besides swordplay, finding nothing, he decided to report his own experiences. "I'm mostly self taught, but I have had a couple of teachers show me a few things. Generally though, they seem to hold themselves, and fight completely different than you do. Other than the whole shield, that is." He'd draw his sword and move into a stance, demonstrating, and both hands would be on his blade. Coby would be able to see the odd black mark running along the blade. It would start in the middle of the metal down by the crossbar, and curve some with the blade, but little enough that it would meet the edge of the curved blade about a quarter of the way up, and would continue up along the edge all the way to the tip.

Damian didn't reply right away, instead looking at the body laying on the ground. After a couple of minutes, Damian sighs. "First, we give him a proper burial. You seem to know him best, so perhaps it's best that you do it. If I may though, perhaps a funeral pyre is best. Meanwhile, I'll let Master Jamie know." Turning and walking a short distance away, he pulls out his communication lacrima. "Master Jamie, do you have a moment?"




James nodded, studying it briefly before his eyes lit up in recognition. "Ah, an oriental blade! My father used one as well as a knight, and even showed me how, though I prefer the sword and shield, as you've seen. You have a solid stance and base, so for being self taught, you caught on to what's important when you're a swordsman quickly." Looking at a clock, James sighs and turns to leave.

"I'm afraid I need to go, but perhaps the three of us can meet up again in, say, an hour or so and talk more?" After getting his reply, he waves as he heads out into the streets to get some supplies.

The unknown figure dodges the arrow shots with supreme acrobatics as she unleashes more shaman spells on the arrow.

"Shaman Lord: Elk!"

She then fires of another energy blast that is in the shame of an elk's horns. Samir would quickly dodge out of the way, before getting her foot caught in one of the antlers, causing her to trip mid-air and fall down. As she gets up, she looks at the person annoyingly as she clenches her bow.

"Who are you?" she asks calmly, "And what do you want from me on this fine day?"

A small pause came in between.

"My name... is Alice."

And after she runs to her and kicks her in the stomach before firing another bear head at Samir. Yet the archer was quick and was able to move quickly out of the way, firing more arrows at her opponent. This was a strange and unique character to say the least... but what did she mean by 'angering the master'?

@Zarkun@AdamantiumWolf

Jarvis was just watching the magic council finish filling out, as Masahiko followed the rest of the council. The new members were appealing but to Jarvis, they still had to prove themselves. But why were they here? Besides it being a large magical gathering that is, they had to be here for some reason. What else was going to happen? Almost as soon as he had that thought, the message came through in the lacrima, from Damian.

Jarvis waited a moment, but when Jamie didn't answer-unsurprising if she had her hands full of Sam, Jarvis responded. "Jamie appears unavailable. What is it, Damian?0

@Zarkun@Burthstone
Cody nodded in understanding as he slid his sword back into his scabbard and as James left Cody glanced at Mayt. He had a feeling he had heard his name before....That's right. Mayt was one of the three S-Class wizards in Phoenix Wing.
Sighing to himself Cody checked his own watch, before tapping it lightly and looking at Mayt.
"Sorry but I must also excuse myself, I have other matters to attend to." Cody said with a slight bow out of respect for the S-class wizard before quickly dashing off back to his room to check on the girl.

@Shikaru@rivaan
Angela Arthur James Jessica
"Yeah I promise!" Angela exclaimed happily at the mention of more candy which caused Arthur to sigh. He paused as he watched Anya fall over the chair before letting go of Angela.
".....I suppose so." Arthur said with another sigh as he brought Angela in close before whispering something into her ear, the young witch girl simply nodding in reply and beaming him a 'gotcha' smile.
She skipped happily over to Janna before grabbing onto her arm and sticking her tongue out at Arthur, who simply sighed once more and shoved his hands in his pockets. Why must he be stuck with the babysitting anyway?

@Zarkun

Adamine frowned deeply and looked back at Damian from where she crouched by Adiaan's lifeless body "You knew him just as well as I did, that was not the little boy who liked to go fishing that I used to know, he was so angry" Adamine trails off and drops her gaze back to her dead twin "I wonder what happened to make him this way, surely it wasn't me, though I guess it very well could have been" pushing herself off her knees she sits down beside her brother's still body and draws her knees up to her chest and drops her head so that her hood falls over her eyes, she didn't like the fact that it was more than likely her fault he was like this. "he must have been suffering for so long" she mumbles into her knees.

The person Drow had randomly encountered did the same thing once again calling the blonde kid again. Drow's pout grew as the person seemed in a hurry. Nolan ran past the girl who only grew angrier by the fact that he ignored anything that just happened to the melon bread collection of the girl. She stamped her foot onto the ground and picked up one of her coffee soacked breads and trew it at Nolan. Of course she would hit she was amazing after all. Her pout stayed on her face as she looked at the back of Nolan that ran off towards the grand magic games.

@Lunarlors34@Shikaru

“Careful what you wish for, Anya, the world has the tendency to prove people wrong when they least expect it to. Hope we don't get any end of the worlds in the near future... it's going to be a little bit of a bother.” Janna said with a smile, teasing the girl with the scythe.

“Well it's kind of dangerous to use it right here, but I think it should be alright enough if I'm careful to not bump into anyone... just for a moment, it should cause side effects that way...” Janna said in thought and quickly pulled a small ribbon from her bag.” Weapon essence : sword form...” She said, unleasing her magic for just an instant, making sure the chance of side effect kicking in was minimal. The very second later her magic had already stopped and for sheer luck she felt no side effect. She sight with relieve, now opening her gripped arm as very tiny pieces of cloth fell. Her touch had turned the entire ribbon into small pieces.” And this is my magic, I cut everything I touch, though some things require more strength than others.” She said, looking kind of sad.” All I need to kill a human is just a small physical contact let's say around the neck or the armpits and he is dead from the cut arteries. Just a gently bump while walking down a crowded street and someone dies from a cut wound without anyone having a dagger around...” Janna explained then slightly rose her shirt to reveal her stomach. There was a huge scar on it.” Also my magic tends to someone stick around even after I stop it. I've cut myself and other people in number of occasions. The reason they didn't want me in that guild was because they feared the side effects.”

“I'm not sure, maybe...” She replied when Anya stated about how to start the procedures of admission within the Phoenix Wing.” Well it's a small restaurant in a few towns over, but I kind of gave my resignation to resume my traveling, now I suppose you can consider me a traveling cook in need of job... hehehe.”

Janna gave of a surprised smile as she felt Angela grab on her arm, watching happily as the child stuck her tongue at Arthur. She was adorable in her own childish way! Janna wanted to hug her!” Now, now Angela, here are some more candies for you, but behave alright?” She asked before taking out the candies from her bag to hand them to the child.” You know, too bad I can't show you my cooking skills now, maybe some day I will open a restaurant, then all of you could pay me a visit and I will repay you for today's help?” She asked with a smile.

@rivaan@Lunarlors34

"I dunno..it might be kinda fun to watch if it happened." Anya replied, giggling, portraying part of her darker side. Anya stared intently like a child about to recieve the best present ever at Janna while she spoke, clearly intent on demonstrating her magic.

Anya stared and watched as Janna spoke, wondering what exactly the ribbon was for, and seeing nothing really happening. It was until a little bit later when she figured it out, she'd somehow cut the ribbon up. "Ooh! Cool!" Anya exclaimed, gasping in awe as the ribbon pieces slowly fell to the ground.

She listened intently before speaking. "My magic is kinda the same. If I cut you I could make you bleed to death and stuff, though mine is a bit more direct than accidental."

Anya then stared at the scar as Janna continued, thinking about the scars that marked her own body and the memories that went with them. She cringed internally and possibly visibly at the sight, but didn't devolve into a tirade of rage and slaughter.

"Ooh, I see. That'd be a pretty good reason, but I mean, all of us can mess up and have the potentional to kill of us around us at any time though. " Anya replied thoughtfully. "I'm sure Jamie would accept you though if you ever decide you're interested, really. She accepted me after all."

Anya then frowned once Janna mentioned she had resigned from her cooking job, she really was curious to know how the food tasted. "Awee, I was looking forward to tasting your cooking." Anya told her sadly. Anya then perked up when Janna mentioned opening a restaurant, "Yea! Definetely!" She exclaimed excitedly.

By now, they were in the crowd trying to get into the stadium, and a massive crowd it was at that. Anya wondered if everyone would be able to fit in the stadium seats and frowned, she knew she'd be allowed in because the Phoenix Wing box shouldn't be completely full, but she wasn't sure if her new friends would.

"I'm sorry, we didn't get here sooner because you guys stopped to talk to me and now there's a huge crowd here. Oh! I know! You guys could come in with me if you want? Special guests and sit in the Phoenix Wing box and stuffs?" Anya spoke sadly at first, then excitedly when she offered her new friends to sit with them.

Damian sighed and related the recent occurances to Jarvis, watching Adamine talk with her deceased brother. "I'll help her here and then well head back to the Phoenix Wing area in the Stadium. By chance, do you have the mark stamp?"

@Shikaru@rivaan
Angela Arthur James Jessica
Angela happily accepted the new candies as she reluctantly agreed to be 'good. James and Jessica glanced at each other at Anya's request but before they could say anything Arthur spoke up.
"I don't think that is such a....good idea. We wouldn't want to intrude after all." Arthur explained nervously. The one thing they needed to do was AVOID the legit guilds as much as possible not go and sit with an entire guild. If they were found out....
"Besides we already organised tickets in advance." He added as he pulled out 4 tickets from his pocket as he gestured to Angela to come back to them. Angela simply stuck her tongue out at him once more and stayed clinging to Janna, much to Arthurs annoyance as he now sighed and rubbed his temples. Why? Why did Georgie stick him with this job?

Amelia looked at the two mages infront of her, the two that had dared ruin her day out with her new family. Phlegethon stood beside her, the armored spirit watching to two as well with his arms folded. Jamie, Rose, Elyse, and Sam were behind her, Jamie putting up a barrier to protecting the younger children.
No matter what happens, I can't let them hurt anyone. I'm sure Phlegethon can handle one of these two so I have to handle the other. However, if I'm not careful, I'll run out of magical energy quickly. So I need to put this fight to my advantage as much as possible. She thought to herself, looking between her opponents. The girl must be a maker mage. Lava make, specializing with kinetic constructs like that Diamond-Make girl in the games yesterday. I don't know the man's magic but it either focus' on the hammer he has or the hammer helps him control it. So if those are the options.

"Phlegethon, take care of the man. Take him down, whatever means necessary. But try to keep collateral damage to a minimal. However, if he causes too much, disregard that." She said.

"As Milady wishes." The Rider said, approaching Joseph. Once he was a few feet away, Phlegethon unfolded his arms and summoned his claymore to his hand, placing the blade across his shoulders. "Are you prepared for this Mortal?"

Amelia faced Alice, regarding her opponent before closing her eyes to connect to the spirits that resided within her wings, in particular the ones that resided in the blue and green crystals.
Listen, I know you both do not like me as much as you could. But right now, I really need you help. So, Undine, Golem, please... please help me out.

When she was done, Amelia opened her eyes and smiled before orbs of light exited the crystals on her wings and flew into the ground.
"Your move Alice. Ready to enter the Rabit Hole?"

Master Jamie
@Joshua Tamashii@zarkun
Jamie was more then prepared to help, and kept an eye on Amelia. If the girl showed any signs of strain, Jamie was stepping in. As it was, Jamie approached the magma dog, and knelt. Jamie pursed her lips, thoughtful. But then shook her head. It wasn't worth the risk right then. So Jamie simply pulled out a lacrima from a pocket-unseen as it didn't seem like the dress she was wearing today had pockets, and pressed it to the dog, absorbing it into the prison lacrima. Jamie rose and studied the orb, now filled with the magma dog. Smiling sith amusement, Jamie returned to protecting the children. "let me know if you need me, Amelia"

Jarvis
@AdamantiumWolf

Jarvis listened to the explanation, and sighed to himself. A dead body, that was wonderful. "you can't burn a body in the streets, Damian. ill come to you and I'll give her some teleportation lacrima. You can teleport to the guild and back, do what you need to do. I don't have the guild marker currently, but there's one at the guild as well, behind the bar." Jarvis said, looking back to the arena, and rising, and heading out.

games Master Sheldon
@demous
The games master appeared on the arena, clapping his hands and approaching Masahiko, "welcome, welcome! I'm sorry for my Announcers, they appear to be in the middle of something personal, but my my is it juicy!" Sheldon laughed and held out a hand to Masahiko "welcome! We are so glad to have you here! The next event should start as soon as you take your seats!"

Mayt would nod as James responded to his blade, and then announce that he had to go. Mayt would sheathe his sword, and glance at Cody. "An hour should be fine." He'd give James a bit of a smile, and look at Cody as he said he had to do something as well. He couldn't help but inwardly sigh when the wizard bowed to him however. Respect was nice, but he didn't want everyone treating him with bows and salutes, he didn't deserve all that. He'd wave to Cody as he left, and after a moment of standing awkwardly in theh courtyard of the hotel, Mayt would head out into Crocus. He wasn't looking for anything in particular as he wandered about, just something that could keep him occupied for the rest of the hour.

@Zarkun@Lunarlors34

Damian sighs and shakes his head. "I need to get back to the Stadium before the game's announced if I can, Jarvis. I promised Penny she wouldn't have to compete in my place."