Very abruptly, the column of soldiers descended into disarray. Gabriel's sudden reunion with the ground, and his subsequent feat of knocking himself out on a dirt road, nearly pushed over his comrade in front of him, and his thrown-out arms intruded into the space of those on either side having failed to stop his tumble. The unexpected disruption passed speedily, however, with the soldiers steadying themselves and parting to walk around the fallen boy, with various looks of mirth, annoyance, or concern on their face. When the wagon rolled up, its driver -Rune- carefully slid from his saddle to pick Gabriel up and plop him in the back; evidently his confident decline of the invitation to ride was all for naught.

Following that interruption, the war guild made tracks. Sustained despite the hot sun and many miles by the cooling and invigorating magics of Joakim and Tsubano, the soldiers left Crocus and its level, unassuming hinterlands far behind. As they progressed northeast, the terrain steadily lost its evenness, and the weather slightly more temperate. Overhead, a light cover of clouds suffused the sky, turning the sun from a burgeoning presence to a seldom-seen specter. Several small settlements passed Frenzy Plant by, with no dialogue exchanged. Once another disruption broke out in the ranks with the sudden arrival of an unfamiliar being. Leo's appearance warranted an instant outcry of “intruder!” from Rune, and the nearest half-dozen soldiers immediately spread out to surround him. Though brandishing arms and magic, they did not act, and after an explanation by Gabriel warily consented to the spirit's presence.

Surprisingly little conversation went on otherwise, but Harper Saxum consented to respond to Argus when he asked about the day's events. She cast a glance at Enma before giving her own version. ”What are you, the president of his fan club? Aren't you a little too male for that? Here's what really happened, Argus: two hot shot Phoenix Wing swordsman wanted a piece of Zander and Xyster. One of 'em was a joke—he waited around, not doing anything until the General was in a bad spot, and then threatening both him and his horse. The moment he actually tried fighting, Zander destroyed him. The other one was Nolan, and sure, he's a Slayer, so of course he's got a stupid amount of power. Still, he could hardly keep up with the both of them together. He would have gone down if he hadn't summoned a gold sword and weakened poor Xyster with its presence. She went Night Terror with Ereshkigal. If we get back, I hope we get to take Phoenix Wing down another notch.” She glanced at Damian, who walked away from and behind the column of troops, knowing he was too far away to possible hear her, especially given the ambient noise of walking soldiers.

With night falling, the warrior guild came to a halt in labyrinthine, drably stony canyon country. Camp was made atop a plateau, where the wind whistled ominously but a single path of entry granted excellent defensibility against raiders. Eliza informed the general that Belka lay just ahead, and plans were made to advance into the town the next day.



The break of dawn galvanized the camp into action. Soldiers moved hither and thither, readying themselves but not doing away with the tents, as part of the plan to establish a base of operations outside city limits should things go south.

Belka lay on its own great spire of rock reaching up from a misty abyss far below, and a colossal stone bridge spanned the canyon to connect land and crag. General Sanders, Corporal Putcher, Lieutenant Brass, Lieutenant Kilo, Private Graham, and Damian descended from the plateau to traverse the short road before the great bridge. All others could watch clearly from the precipice. Before long the envoy stood before the gate of Belka.

Five minutes passed by of perfect, agonizing silence. No watchman spotted the envoys and called to them, no horns or sirens resounded from within the town, and the gates didn't move an inch. At Sanders' urging, Chester Graham blew a signal horn. A few more seconds passed with only the whispering of the wind across sheer cliffs to break the monotony. Then the portcullis began to rise.

At a comfortable, leisurely pace it ground upward, creaking and wobbling. Through the open gate strode three figures. All were thin, and arrayed in order of increasing height from the left. One, a fat man in a cleric's dark green robe and a huge-brimmed hat, used an enormous iron mace with spikes like a walking stick, but the others carried nothing. In the middle stood a scrawny woman with ragged, waist-length hair under a farmer's cowl, her expression vacant and her blouse black, dirty, and held together by rope. On her other side stood a thin man who must have been seven feet tall, with a long, pointy beard, a brimmed pointy hat tied beneath his chin, large spectacles, glistening white teeth, and rustic nobleman's wear obviously tailored for his ludicrous frame, ruffled collar and all. When the three drew near, it was he who spoke. ”Good morning, good morning! Forgive our lateness. It is rare that we here in Belka, famed as we our for our medicine, get visitors, particularly such early risers! How can we be of service?”

Sanders responded immediately, with all the officiousness that could be expected from him. ”Good morning. I am the commander of a small mercenary company, currently passing through this region. Its cliffs and gorges are most unforgiving, and we have nearly gotten lost. If you please, we would like to rest here for a day and provision ourselves for the coming march. There are fewer than forty of us, and I guarantee we will not be a burden.”

The nobleman's brilliant, toothy smile reflected what little sun eked through the yellow-gray clouds. ”We are always supportive of the armed forces, and would like nothing better. The only provision is that you think of the hospitality of little Belka in the cragland when your war is over. Our gate is open to you!” He tittered and gave a slight bow, making the point of his hat flop about. When he straightened up again, a stray mote of light permitted the soldiers to glimpse the gauntness and paleness of his face. No doubt a poor harvest in such unpleasant country meant hunger for all, from the peasant to the lord. He turned around, tittering still, and alongside the farmer and the cleric strode back through the threshold.

The soldiers, meanwhile, turned about and made a beeline back for camp. Sanders frowned at Eliza. ”I hope your active imagination hasn't gotten away with you, miss. They aren't your everyday folk, but such eccentricity is the defining feature of remote rural settlements. They can hardly be called animalistic savages.” Eliza opened her mouth to protest, but Sanders' smooth tones continued after a beat. ”If it turns out you have drawn our guild on a wild goose chase, miss, you will be sorely punished, but I am not yet ready to assume all things well. Bear with me.”

At the camp, he addressed the whole guild. ”We have made contact with denizens of the town. They do not appear to be diseased or afflicted in accordance with the tales. Something does, however, feel off. Frenzy Plant will be moving into the city to set up camp, and we will keep a sharp eye out for any abnormalities. While we are here, do not flaunt your magic, and do not take any food or water from the locals. Sup on only what we have brought with us, or what our own hunting parties recover.” He turned to look at the town, and to listen to the cries of the crows that flocked about the place. ”If there is something amiss in Belka, we will be sure to find out what.”

Damian followed Sanders and his guild members down the path and across the bridge, opting to rather keep an eye on things and observe for the time being. As the exchange went on between the trio and Sanders, Damian was watching the wall along with their welcoming committee. There was something off, that much he was certain off, but the people certainly didn't seem animalistic. Unless these are the people who haven't yet been infected for some reason... He followed the Frenzy Plant members back to the camp on the overlook at listened to Sanders speak before stepping forwards as the camp got busy again.

"I"ll go in ahead of everyone, start looking for abnormalities. I wouldn't bring everyone into the city though, just in case we've missed something." He turned and stopped, pulling a lacrima from one of his pouches and handing it to the Frenzy Plant guild master. "Here, it'll let us stay in contact."



Jane's evening, despite the downer from Dragon Fang, had been enjoyable and fun, and had ended in her guild mark, a brilliant shade of silver, being placed on the back of her hand before she went to her hotel room that had been secured for her. Waking up, she quickly showered, got dressed and headed out into the hallway, looking for someone who looked like they'd been a member for sometime to converse with and learn more about the guild from.




With no events going on for the Games today, Hunter once more took to the streets of the city. In the days he'd done this, he'd yet to successfully get to try any of the food before giving up and heading back to the hotel or the curfew took effect. However, today, he was determined to find something decent to eat and sit down and finish it BEFORE getting into anymore brawls. His search happened to lead him past the Phoenix Wing hotel and while Amaya's scent did tickle his nose, he was more interested in food right then, and so he started looking at the street vendors nearby.




Jack had bid fair well to Jamie and her children and Jane shortly after leaving the ice cream shop, spending the rest of the time checking up on his guild members after their matches and perusing street stalls and various shops. The following morning, Jackie would actually find him already downstairs, as he was every day. "You mean Aria? She is. I think it would be best if you spoke with her some first and then make a decision on her fate. Though you should know she expects you to have her killed if not outright kill her yourself. Show her you aren't the same person."

An eyebrow slid minutely up the General's forehead when the outsider answered first. His first instinct when it came to insubordination -to get cross- wouldn't fly here, and as such he maintained a level tone when he replied. ”I hope you are making a bad joke, Mr. Gerard. Because we are potentially dealing with a hidden threat, we must take care not to be suspicious in the least. I told the emissary that we were a mercenary company seeking shelter for a day in order to set up a guise. We will not be sending out any lone operatives to skulk about until we are more aware of the town layout and habits. If you wanted to forgo stealth, remember that everyone in remote towns like this knows everyone else backwards and forewards, and few villagers trust outsiders. A lone outsider would be even more odd. As a complete group, so as not to arouse suspicion, we will accept the invitation provided to us and enter Belka. To do otherwise would be exceedingly rash.”

He leaned on his walking stick. ”This is a military operation, Mr. Gerard, and we will carry it out with military precision. I'm well aware that you are not part of the guild, and you may not think yourself subject to my judgments. That is true, if foolhardy. If there's a real threat here and you jeopardize the safety of any of my soldiers, or of the people of Fiore, I would be unhappy.” An ominous inflection hung in the air following the last word, but it quickly vanished. ”Besides, you're here because you wanted to be with Frenzy Plant, correct? To run off as a lone wolf would defeat that purpose.” The eyes of the warrior guild's general twinkled ever so slightly.

Looking down at the lacrima in Damian's hand, he furrowed his brow. ”Mr. Gerard, your crystal ball seems to be defective.” One look at the lacrima confirmed it. A moment ago the magic-infused gem might have been functional, but now it only shone dully in the filtered sunlight, devoid of power, and it could not accomplish its purpose. Any other lacrimas of the same kind Damian might have just so happened to have packed beforehand shared the same fate. ”Convenience always fails us at the worst times, doesn't it?” A glance at nearby idle soldiers kicked off a wave of activity. The soldiers began to take down their tents and pack the wagons, preparing to move into Belka.

"You're absolutely right." Rosalina said, her silver hair almost shimmering in the sunlight. "It was poor conduct for me to not attend."

Sayatachi was expecting to get a rude comment from Rosa, but was pleasantly surprised when she answered in a polite manner. Perhaps she was right not to judge her so much by the cover. Regardless, she seemed honest with that statement and all Saya did was simply make a little shrug before pausing for a bit.

"Then again, I personally like attention. Probably narcissistic of me saying this aloud, but it's simply in my nature."

"To each their own. Narcissism isn't an entirely negative personality trait, after all." Rosalina straightened herself up, deciding that she'd had quite enough of spectating.

The Rainbow Majesty sighs as she touches her flamboyant hair.

"Perhaps." she simply responds with a sigh.

"So," Rosa said, her arms folded across her chest, "we're revealed to the public then. What's next in store for the Council?"

"We will see tomorrow." Saya simply responds, "For now, let's rest. The fourth day is about to end and there's another long day tomorrow. I think there's an important meeting tomorrow as well, so we'll have to be there on time. I'll be seeing you there."

And with a wave of her hand, she signals her a polite goodbye and heads to her quarters.

---

"Firstly, Masahiko has decided to step back for a time. This means that essentially I take over his duties, as he wished it. No problems with that?" Carrie didn't give them time to respond, moving smoothly to her next order of business. "Secondly, there has been accounts of the dark guilds activities decreasing, and of some order, or rather alliances being formed between them. this is not good news, and I think it's time we address something that hasn't been touched since the new council was constructed.

The rune knights. They use to be a source of honor for the council, but under Anglica's guidance they became a source essentially for the dark guilds to do as they wish. It is time we recruit and train new knights, as a force against the dark guilds, and time we stops standing apart from other wizards and accept the help of the light guilds.

We also need to address the issue of the wizard Saints. traditionally there are ten, and we do not have that many. It is time we appoint another saint. This means I will be accepting names from you, and we can judge whether any of them are reasonable for wizard saint appointment."

Sayatachi was already sitting down in the room where the Council was supposed to meet, looking at the other members in the room, while listening to the speech. She payed a good portion of attention to Carrie's speech, only dazing off once during the middle part. Now being a Wizard Saint... that will be something she'd love to become. Again, it could be simply due to her attention seeking nature, but regardless it was her choice. It was now time to choose from the Council men in the room...

A collaboration between myself and @zarkun



@zarkun
Shiro calmly followed Hunter as she moved effortlessly through the crowd. She wasn't aware that he had caught on, nor if she did know she probably wouldn't care. He wouldn't make a scene in public surely?
Noticing that the further they walked, the less people around them there seemed to be. She simply viewed this as good for her, after all it would be easier to attack him in a place with as few witnesses as possible.
However noticing him sit down on a park-bench she slowed her pace, unconsciously, as she thought about her next move. However what she heard next pretty much gave her one option.
"Nice try lady, but next time you try to tail a dragon slayer, don't make yourself match the pace of the crowd. You stick out too much."
Shiro narrowed her eyes now. She had been noticed huh? No matter, all she had to do was eliminate the target then. Unclipping the scythe from her back, she now suddenly appeared near the bench before bringing her scythe down upon where Hunter sat.
“I don't need advice from someone about to die.”
Although it was rather funny how no-one in the street ever seemed to notice the huge scythe on her back.

Hunter chuckled, encasing his hand in jade as he pushes the weapon away. "Up, up, up, your friend in the sewer needs to quit trying to hide first. And besides, killing a Dragon Slayer? You might have a chance if you were a dragon, Carnophros would get a kick out of you guys for saying that though." Standing, the Dragon Slayer stretches and turns to face the girl, noting her eye patch and her large scythe. Hunter couldn't understand why so many mages that could use a weapon needed something so oversized. He could understand Damian's sword, especially since if what he'd heard was true about it. His body was slowly enveloped by a layer of jade stone, though it clearly wasn't the full jade scale armor he'd used during his match.

Shiro frowned slightly as Hunter seemed to effortlessly not only block her swing, but push it away as well. Not only that, but he could sense Manami? It would seem that a slayers enhanced senses wasn't something to laugh at.
"I'm more than necessary." Shiro responded listlessly as her body gave a soft glow before launching herself towards Hunter. The soft glow before had been her enhancement magic kicking in, so her speed, strength and durability had been enhanced to about 50% at this stage. Shiro was merely testing the slayer.
Effortlessly swinging her blade she aimed to slice him in half. She wanted to test this armour of his, although she was still ready to quickly get away in case her attack had next to or no effect.

Hunter leaped, flipping over the scythe and firmly planting his feet into the eye patch girl's back, slamming her into the ground before back flipping away and sliding to a stop in a ready stance, a smile on his face. "Come on now, you're overestimating yourself or underestimating me. Or both. Besides, it doesn't take a genius to figure out not to get hit during a fight, kinda puts you at a disadvantage. Now then," he turns to the nearby sewer grate, "you're sticking out like a sore thumb down there, so come on out." He remained ready in case eye patch girl recovered from the blow he'd given her faster than he'd hoped and so he kept his body half facing her.

Shiro let out a loud 'oof' as she felt Hunter's feet connect with her back, causing her to stumble forward due to her losing balance. She managed to recover well enough to avoid face planting as she turned sharply to glare back towards Hunter with her one visible eye.
"Suppose so. Sewers were never my favorite place anyway." A low chuckle came from the grate before it was slowly dissolved by a golden light. Manami now brought herself back up using some water before dusting herself down, for seemingly no reason really. If anything she would have sewer water on her, not dust.
"Shiro my dear, a little warning before you engage would be fantastic. I hate it when you think you can do the job yourself." Manami sighed as she turned her attention to Hunter in his semi-jade armour state before letting out a low chuckle.
"Ah the dragon slayer from Dragon Fang is it? Jade Slayer or something? I was hoping for a Phoenix Winger first personally." Manami chuckled softly before raising her hand. As if on cue, Shiro disappeared before reappearing about two metres away from Hunter and using the extended reach of her scythe swung at him from there.
Meanwhile a sphere of golden tinged water had began to form above Manami's outstretched hand. As long as Shiro kept Hunter's attention of her, Manami could easily finish the spell in time.

Hunter ducked down and swept the eye patch girl's legs out from under her, pulling his fist back and grinning. "Jade Dragon's Steel Fist!" Swinging forward, the blow would connect with eye patch girl's gut and send her sailing backwards. He would then pivot towards water body girl and inhale deeply. "Jade Dragon's Roar!" The spell would send particlized jade sailing at the other woman and would hurt to get hit by.

Upon finishing the spell, he would anticipate eye patch girl being right back in the fray and would activate his Jade Scale Armor, with several aspects of it taking on a draconian appearance. He'd counter the attack with Crushing Talon, bringing his foot down in a viscious arc towards eye patch girl's head.

Shiro didn't even register what had happened. She had thought she was outside his combat range, turns out she had miscalculated as she flew backwards from the punch, rolling slightly and only stopping when she pushed against the ground and teleported back to her feet.
However she had brought Manami enough time to create her sphere.
"Gabriel's Wall." Manami clicked her fingers loudly as a wall of water gushed forth from the sphere and slammed into the ground in front of her. Hunter's attack now harmlessly slammed into the sphere before being dissolved by the water as it now curled around as two sharpened, large tendrils aimed straight at Hunter in an attempt to pierce his armour.
Shiro meanwhile seemed to fidgeting with her eyepatch rather than fighting. It was getting in the damned way, reading his movements was far too difficult with one eye. However she couldn't risk another problem like the dome, all it would take is one witness.

The one tendril took the Crushing Talon, meeting a shattering end. The other, however, met his armor and for a second, seemed like it would work. Then it hit the ground and Hunter chuckled before dashing into melee range of the water using mage, bringing his hand down in a Crushing talon move before following it up with Jaded Knee to her gut and finishing the combo with a Jade Drill Horn. Landing afterwards, he would once more be ready for another set of attacks. "This armor is a direct hand-me-down from my father, Carnophros the Jaded, considered to be nearly as hard as a dragon's scales."

Shortly before Hunter's attack had hit Manami, she gave off a soft golden glow. The sphere had a multitude of purposes, such as showering her in the golden water and thus her body was coated in a armor like layer now. As he finished his combo, and thus sending Manami tumbling and rolling backwards there would now be a golden tinge all over his fists and knee.
Moreover to the point, Manami simply stood back up without having taken much damage. However there seemed to be a couple of visible cracks over her body, which she now inspected with a rather impressed face.
"Well this is unexpected. It seems my armor still needs work...however this is the power of slayer magic? Interesting." Manami remarked as she looked back towards Hunter.
"My, my, my. I might be in a pickle if that armor is as good as you say. To be perfectly honestly, I'm not sure I have the offensive power to pierce dragon scales." Manami chuckled loudly as Shiro joined the fray once more.

Bringing her scythe back it now dug into the ground as it would seem to most people she had simply used a far too heavy weapon for the attack planned, however she simply used it as a springboard and kicked herself off of it. Her body glowed softly once more as she went to 60% enhancement.
Manami healed over the cracks in her own armor in the meantime now as the sphere continued to float harmlessly above of them. Manami didn't want to risk hitting Shiro with her attacks, however her main concern was finding a weak spot in the slayers armor.

"Alright, this is getting ridiculous." Hunter ducked underneath the flying eye patch girl and his hand shot up, catching her leg and slamming her into the ground in front of him. Flipping up, he brings his elbow into her gut, creating a shallow crater upon impact. Standing up, he makes a leaping charge towards the water mage once more and ups his ante, unleashing a powerful steel fist that immediately left a crack in the armor around her gut. He then pivoted and slammed a Jade Elbow into her chin, leaving another crack and sending her up into the air.

Hunter was close behind, leaving a small crater behind where he'd jumped from. "Jade Dragon's Heavy Crushing Talon!" Jade streamed from his leg as he spins and heel kicks the water mage in the already damaged gut area, shattering her armor and sending her flying back towards the ground and her grounded companion.

Shiro realised her mistake as soon as she launched herself off of her scythe. She thought that maybe trying to take him by surprise like that would work, instead it was simply a one way ticket to painvile. Population: Shiro.
Her silvery blue hair whipped around as she was slammed into the ground, the air immediately leaving her lungs from the impact. Winded, she was defenceless from the follow up attack which now made her cough up some blood.
"Shiro!" Manami brought her hands up to attack Hunter however she was too slow to react, he was already upon her as she hesitated. The hesitation cost her all chances of either dodging or counting the blows to her gut and chin, and once airbound she found it rather difficult to dodge the attack he now slammed into her gut.
With her armor shattered she slammed back into the ground, not too far from Shiro, but quickly pushed herself back up.
"Shiro! Shiro!" Manami quickly ran over to her unconscious partner, shaking her lightly.

Hunter still had a lot of momentum built up from his spin and so he was still spinning right up until right before he landed, which he did so with a heavy thud. "She'll live, but she's out cold for the next little bit. You sure you want to keep at this? Because you're surprisingly underwhelming for being so confident." Hunter remained tense though, watching her. He still had one more trick he could unleash, but it's power and innate abilities were hard to control, even for him. And it's friend and foe identification abilities were...limited.

Manami simply cradled Shiro close to her for a moment as she began to think. Her father had told her how her magic would be the one to defeat the slayers...yet here she was, versing a slayer and her magic seemed to have little effect. Was it because she hadn't fully recovered from the dome? Or maybe that bastard never told her a single shred of truth?! Manami slowly lowered Shiro back down onto the ground before pushing herself up and dusting herself off....no she had to beat him. The slayers were a threat, even her father wouldn't lie about such a thing. One simply had to look at history to realise how much of a threat they were.

"Back down? I don't have that luxury anymore. I owe it to justice to kill every single damned one of you slayers." Manami spat back as her eyes widened with anger. The golden sphere of water seemed to bubble dangerously now, as did the water in the sewers.
"I will kill you. Then I'll move onto the next slayer. Then the next. Till none stand. You're all simply too dangerous an existence." Manami raised her hand once more towards Hunter this time however.

"Besides, like you can let someone who wants you dead go. Or are you just plain stupid?" Several tendrils of water now erupted out of the ground from the sewer itself as Manami simply stood there with an angry glare.
She had spent her time in the sewers changing the water to her own magic, not really thinking she might need it but it never hurt to be safe. While she couldn't control the entire city's sewer water, she could still control the water around of them well enough.
She would kill this man simply for hurting Shiro like this, let alone the fact he was a slayer. That and there was no way she would sully the guilds pride like this, she might be the newest and weakest S-Class in Shadow Heart but she was S-Class nonetheless.
And she still had a couple of tricks up her sleeve. Especially if Hunter wished to lay more punches into her.

Hunter moved quickly, rolling forwards away from the tentacles and slamming his hand palm first onto the ground. "Suit yourself lady. Just don't say I didn't warn you. Jade Dragon's Rising Spikes!" Underneath the water mage a plethora of sharp tipped jade spikes would shoot up from the ground and Hunter would quickly follow it up. "Jade Dragon's Sword!" His arm transformed into a jagged edged sword and extended towards the water mage quickly, which then changed into a series of rapidly fast slashes. After about ten seconds, the sword retracted and turned back to normal and Hunter inhaled again before making a trumpet with his hands. "Jade Dragon's Roar!" Because of the trumpet, this roar was considerably stronger and no hastily made or standard defense could stop it.

However, he used the final attack to disguise his movements and closed in on the water mage from the right and catching her, slamming her into the ground. However, he didn't speak before back flipping away. "If you think I'm going to let you go after any of my fellow slayers unchalleged, you're wrong. But don't think that you know all there is to us. All the world's slayers have always fought to protect it, even Natsu, Rogue, Sting, Wendy, and Gajeel, right up until Zeref turned them against their will, fought to stop the bastard." Something about Hunter seemed to change, his attitude becoming more respectful as he said each name but also grew more angry as her implications sunk in, and he slid into a ready stance once more. "So don't you DARE think you have any right to judge them or us! I am proud to be a Dragon Slayer! Raaaaahhhh!" As Hunter roared, Manami would, for just the briefest instant, see the imbodiment of a dragon, and then he'd rush forward as he spoke again.

"Entombing Emblem!" When the water mage looked at her chest where Hunter had grabbed her before slamming her down, she'd see Jade spreading from it, encasing her at a decent pace. Hunter, upon closing the distance, pulled back and unleashed a Spear Strike, his arm straightening and encased in jade as it shot towards her gut.

Hunter was fast, Manami would grant him that. Powerful as well, she had underestimated him greatly and she would probably lose as a result since she was already on the backfoot. But his attacks lacked the same power and speed he did.
The sphere of water which Manami had created earlier crashed down on top of her and engulfed her entire body, thus shielding her from his spikes and sword. Not only shielding her, but the attacks had no visible effect as they were simply embedded in the water and being slowly dissolved bar the sword which had been retracted.

The roar however seemed to have a visible effect on the water as parts of it seemed to have evaporated on contact.
The main problem with the sphere of water around Manami however is that she had lost sight of Hunter and had to lower it to find him again, as well as she had to regenerate the sphere.
However as she lowered the sphere she found herself being grabbed by the front of her shirt, letting out a surprised gasp as she was then slammed into the ground.
She felt the ground crack and splinter upon impact. She laid there for a moment, winded, before slowly pushing herself back to her feet in the small crater she found herself in.

“You really think I would believe what a slayer has to say? All you do is destroy, it doesn't matter whose side you're on. Your magic itself is a threat to mankind as proven by Zeref, that is why I must do this.” Manami replied back as she steadied herself. She could feel the jade spreading on her body and she could've sworn for a moment that she saw a dragonoid shape around of Hunter for a moment and this distracted her for just a moment.

However now she found herself having to quickly dodge Hunter's next attack, doing so with a little difficulty due to the spreading jade. However she didn't avoid the entire attack as he had cut her just above her guild mark along with a tad of the bottom of her dress.
Grimacing in pain, she lost her balance due to the jade making her heavier than usual and now found herself on her back.
Finding it had already spread to her elbows and was beginning to spread up her neck, she simply just laid there, smiling slightly and even let out a small laugh. She had definitely underestimated this wizard, it was her total defeat.

“I'll give credit where credit is due slayer, you're better than what I thought. Now finish me, if you don't kill me now you'll regret it.” Manami called out to Hunter as she closed her eyes.
"God I'm turning into Maxie...I reaped what I sowed I suppose. Sorry Shiro." Manamai thought as she waited for Hunter to deal the final blow.

Hunter stood there, looking at the woman who had just insulted the greatest people in history and turned away, walking. "Killing you only proves your point. And besides, I don't take lives, and neither did the men and young woman you insulted with your ignorance. Read more than the words in a history book sometimes." Hunter stopped as he walked and looked back.

"I've got your scent and that of your friends. Come near me or Master Jack, and I won't leave you unbroken. The Emblem finishes when your body's encased. Feel free to start trying to get it off now though. You might be able to get away before the Rune Knights I called when I smelled your friend show up." And then Hunter, the Jade Dragon Slayer, was gone, once more on the prowl for food.

“Not if I break you first.” Manami sighed as she looked up towards the sky thoughtfully for a moment.
Why didn't Hunter kill her? She had been told slayers were simply heartless monsters who only cared for destruction, that they killed without mercy. Yet, she had just tried to kill one, told him she would kill them all....and he was letting her go?
Shaking her head now, to the best of her ability, she mentally slapped herself. Now wasn't the time to think about such things.....he had mentioned calling the rune knights.

After earlier's fiasco, the rune knights were surely looking for her and Shiro so she couldn't risk running into rune knights. However before she could start breaking out of the jade, it began to show visible cracking before shattering into tiny, insignificant pieces.
Confused, Manami slowly got up and looked around before quickly narrowing her eyes at the man with snow white hair and striking crimson eyes standing underneath a nearby tree.

“That was truly pathetic. A disgrace to our guild, you couldn't even take him two on one. And you call yourself S-Class?” Maxie smirked as he now walked over to Manami, showing nothing but contempt in his eyes before turning his gaze elsewhere.
Manami turned her own gaze downward, her fists clenched by her sides. It was one thing being beat by the slayer, but Maxie had been watching the entire time?!
“However now is not the time. Jane took Shiro to our hotel already. I'll think of a suitable punishment for sullying the guilds honour later, for the two of you. Right now I don't feel like letting the rune knights know of my presence here. It was bad enough you and Nidhogg already did. I'll need to punish him as well.” Maxie added as he clicked his fingers. Manamai flinched as she felt the ground shake underneath her before it suddenly gave out and destroyed the entire park and thus any physical evidence any of them having even been there.



@Zarkun@Roseletta
Cody was unsure how long the bout lasted, all he remembered was falling into the bed with bruises all over his body and falling straight asleep.
Morning came a little quicker than Cody thought actually, and rubbing his eyes now he glanced around the room sleepily to find Jasmine's sleeping form in the bed beside him since there was only one bed in the room and nowhere else to sleep. If he hadn't been half asleep at this stage, he might've freaked out regardless.
Oh right....He had lost her yesterday, hadn't he? Whoops. Oh well, at least she found her way back in the end. However Cody did make a mental note to apologize later when she woke up.
In the meantime he got out of bed now and slowly made his way to the bathroom to shower and answer the call of nature which had been building sometime during the night.

Once he had his shower he got dressed into his usual attire before venturing forth into the dining room for some breakfast. Once there he ordered some eggs, bacon and toast before sitting down in a nearby chair and groaning.
He was still a little sore, but nothing he couldn't handle (hopefully).

@t2wave
NOLAN and DALTON

Nolan had long since been up before many people of the guild, but he had stayed locked up in his room. The window was wide open, letting the late autumn chill creep on his bare torso. He leaned on the edge of the window, smoking pipe in hand, smoking the morning away as he watched the morning life of the city slowly become active. These past few days had just been extremely hectic for him; finding out his siblings were alive after all, the fiasco with Arial being kidnapped along with her Charm Magic controlling his emotions, a way too close encounter with Saya, and nearly dying in the games. Perhaps he could use this as a time to rest.

Snoring obnoxiously loud was Dalton, passed out due to a drunken comatose. It was actually rather pathetic considering that Dalton had gotten drunk off of half a bottle beer. Maybe his small stature was to blame for him being such a lightweight. Nolan poked the Exceed, but the only reaction he got from Dalton was just incessantly loud snoring. No sense in dragging him around when he was just going to be out cold.

Someone was knocking on his door though who would want to bother him right now? Nolan sighed a puff of smoke and turned to the door. He wasn't going to bother putting a shirt on. Whoever it was, he was going to tell them to bugger off and let him rest. He opened the door and removed his pipe from his lips. "Look, I-" He stopped mid-sentence and his face flushed when he realized that it was Ariel...and that he wasn't wearing a shirt in front of her.

FERRIS
@Caits

Ferris' alarm clock had rung loudly and then turned off by a previously sleeping Ferris. He groaned something intelligible about not wanting to get up and buried his face into a pillow. It was his damn day off and he sure wasn't going to be getting out of bed that damn early. He was just going to enjoy the warmth of his bed and perhaps just laze around and play video games all day. Oh dear god, he prayed that Jessie would never find out that he was a closet nerd. She would never let him live it down.

@Lugubrious
ENMA

Enma glared at Harper, wanting to grind that mouth of her's into dust. She was letting her prejudice for Phoenix Wing get the better of her, even insulting those that the oni calls a friend. He knew the efforts that Nolan had made in order to become stronger, even putting his own life on the line. However what pissed him off the most was the belittling and insulting of Nolan, even when he promised that he would hold no grudges against Frenzy Plant. "Nolan's my friend and I'd appreciate if you cut the shit talk. You know just as well as I do that wasn't how it went down. Nolan got rid of that sword to have a fair fight and you know damn well that he nearly killed them. They survived because they were strong, but when you insult Nolan's strength then you have insulted Xyster and Zander's strength. That only cheapens their victory when it was a hard fought battle.

Perhaps an argument started, or perhaps not. They had arrived at a canyon where they would spend the night before heading off to Belka. Just what the hell is going to happen between Phoenix Wing and Frenzy Plant?

The next day they had arrived at the gates of Belka and...everything seemed in order. The people who greeted the guild were all healthy and okay, save for the tall nobleman's taste of clothes. He didn't trust them; as simple as that. He didn't trust that nobleman's white smile, he didn't trust his words, and he certainly didn't trust his taste in clothes. Something felt off about this city and it made him feel ever more tense. It also didn't help that there was a tension in the air just by having Damian in their troop. No one was happy about it and personally, he could see why Nolan wasn't too fond of him. He seemed to try and act as the leader, even when he was the guest of the guild. Enma couldn't help, but think that having him along may be more detrimental to guild relations than just leaving it as before.

Damian didn't speak while the other man did, though he didn't appreciate what Frenzy Plant's guild master was insinuating. Damian wasn't one to put lives in harms way unnecessarily, which was why he'd offered to go in ahead of the others, as advance recon. His father had had him train in it extensively along side the weapons training, but he wouldn't say anything now. Putting the defunct lacrima back in it's pouch, he silently thanked Jarvis for providing a fresh teleportation lacrima for getting from where ever he was to the stadium in a timely fashion. "I meant no disrespect, Guild Master Sanders. My father taught me that an advance recon unit, whether it be a small group or a single person, could save lives in unfamiliar territory. I thought it might not hurt to get someone ahead of the group under the guise of starting to gather supplies while the others arrive. My apologies."

He bowed as he finished, meaning nothing to be insulting, and then turned and watched the other members of Frenzy Plant work and sighed, realizing that he was going to need to find out the finer points of Frenzy Plant's standard operation system before he could meld with it well. "If I may, Master Sanders, how did Frenzy Plant find out about the city? Not this one, but the other one."




Jacey stood on a rooftop overlooking both the stadium for the Games and the majority of the city, including the gate she'd watched the legendary Blade of Phoenix Wing take when he left with the toy soldier guild Frenzy Plant. From her position on this rooftop, she'd seen almost every notable event happen, both within the Games and outside of them. And that's what she was relaying to the voice on the other side of her cellphone. "Everything has gone according to plan, despite several disturbances from outside sources. Shadow Heart among them. Almost chief you could say, what with their undead play thing doing as he pleases." There was a growl of annoyance from the other end of the line.

"And you're positive that their interference, whether it be direct or indirect, won't hinder us? We've invested a lot into making sure that all the pieces are going to be in place when the time comes, miss Belladona, and we would all be incredibly unhappy if their foolhardy antics were to throw it all into ruin." Jacey giggled and shook her head, though the owner of the voice on the other end of the line wouldn't see that.

"Trust me, my dearest Reinhardt, Shadow Heart can't possibly hope to even dent our ground work. Still, I suppose I do owe Georgie a personal visit to inform her that she needs to rein in her guild or they can expect a visit from your own." There's a subtle dark note to that last part that hangs in the air momentarily before Jacey pressed onwards. "And of course, Phoenix Wing, Dragon Fang and Frenzy Plant are all living up to expectations, with some members of their guilds surpassing them by miles. Phoenix Wing's Trinity for example. She had a hidden magic, Energy Make. It's very interesting, very beautiful in it's own right and puts her a little higher on the neutralization list. Another one to watch from Phoenix Wing is Karn. The little shapeshifter has access to Chimera Slayer magic and is able to become one with his shifter magic." She could have gone on, but Reinhardt's voice cut her off.

"Yes, yes, we've all seen the footage you've been sending us. Just keep recording and sending the footage to us and we'll be plenty well prepared when the time comes. Good day, Miss Belladona." The line went dead and Jacey sighed, closing her own phone and sitting down with a hmph.

"Well, there are no events for today, and my favorite dancing partner's out of town with Frenzy Plant, so perhaps I'll lay low and see how the day goes." A moment of silence and then she giggles. "Who am I kidding? Let's see what kind of mayhem I can stir!" And in a bolt of black lightning, the pink haired Lightning God Slayer was gone.

@hatakekuro
Waiting patiently Ariel rocked back and forth on her feet before the door opened. Looking up she saw Nolan standing there half naked and blushing. Pausing for a moment she stared at him and seemed to be thinking. A light must have gone on in her head and she pointed at him. "Uh, hi. I noticed the smell of ash and I was wondering..." A confused expression crossed her face and she leaned closer to sample the air. "Huh, you smell like ash actually. That's kind of weird. I like it though." Standing up straight again she noticed he was practically frozen and blushing red. Scratching her head she glanced around. "Uhm... Are you okay?"

Seemingly oblivious to the awkward moment a light went off in her head and she became excited all of the sudden. "Ah, I remember now! You in the games, that explains the whole ash thing. Man my memory needs to hurry up and come back. I feel like I'm missing things that are obvious." After a second she finally noticed the absence of a shirt and tilted her head to one side. "Like that. Where'd your shirt go?"

The General of Frenzy Plant nodded, his white hair rolling like wheat in the brisk mountain breeze. ”No offense taken, Mr. Gerard. Your father is a wise man, and in any other case, his advice should be followed. However, towns are more unpredictable, and more heavily populated with spying eyes, than an open territory. That is why I have disagreed.” A quick look around confirmed that most of the soldiers were ready to move out, though some of the wagons remained less than fully loaded. Damian’s next question returned his attention to the loaned Blade. ”Iguunale? One of Frenzy Plant’s ‘branches’ relayed the information to us. You might not know: this guild maintains close connections with several nonmagical fighting forces across Fiore. They are not a part of the guild proper, but we coordinate often, including choice information. The Rune Knights and the Magic Council watch over the wizards of Fiore; the martial tree of which Frenzy Plant is a pivotal part works at other matters. I believe that the Dust Clavigers relayed the information. They are also the ones responsible for the quarantine, and any potential failure to maintain it.”

Having gone off a little, Sanders inclined his head abruptly in a gesture of dismissal, signaling that the time for conversation was at its end. He hurried over the rough, yellow-grassed ground to walk at the head of the procession leading from the clifftop campsite toward Belka. With only a few hundred meters of ground to cover, the war guild soon found itself at the gates of the wind-battered town. Upon entrance several features of the town became immediately obvious. An abundance of fire pits and braziers littered the place, evidence of a populace accustomed to light-obscuring clouds and chilly, biting gusts of wind. Houses, which looked like wooden boxes crammed and stacked together, did not appear to be very large at all, and in some cases stood elevated on tree trunk columns to provide more room for farmland. Gardens seemed ubiquitous as well, along with their equipment. Most of all, there seemed to be no color in the place outside of the blazing fires; only dull greens, dull browns, and grays could be seen.

More interestingly, a group of townsfolk were currently passing by. All appeared haggard beneath their ragged work clothes, but these looked especially grim. Two of them cooperated to lug a huge pot of gray powder toward Belka’s southern end where an allotment of gravestones lay, and the other three marched along with them. One held a little book, and another a little bell. The portly cleric who some minutes before had gone out to greet the envoys of Frenzy Plant stood by and watched, leaning on his spiked club. His compatriots could not be glimpsed anywhere. From his manner, and the morose aura surrounding the southbound group, it could be inferred that these Belka denizens comprised a funeral procession--and that kiln-fired urn the sarcophagus of the immolated deceased.

Angel Ferrara

Angel's ethereal, gender-transcending smile burned a path out to the countertop, upon which he gently laid out the produce he and Kaia had last bought. It was good that there were people along for this next mission - the strawberries needed to be sliced soon anyway before they became overripe, and three new mouths could help consume more bacon - a food that Angel tried not to eat too much of himself.

"Kaia, could you toss me that knife?"

Lux and Cyare, to whom Kaia Iona's blindness was much more obvious than Angel Ferrara's sex, visibly grew apprehensive about the casual way that the trap had slung out his request. This apprehension grew even thicker when Kaia picked up the knife and literally tossed it underhand - then settled when Angel plucked it casually from the air in a reverse grip, left-handed, and tossed it to his other hand to begin dicing fruit.

"Aaaand a bowl."

A bowl skidded loudly across the countertop between them.

"Thaaaaank you, Kaia."

(@Krayzikk, @Caasicam, @Silvan Haven, @HereComesTheSnow)

penny
@Zran
Penny gave a soft sigh, watching Ariel go. The girl might not understand why she would be converted, but Penny did. There use to be more then the handful of Phoenixs out there in the world, but slowly over he generations they had been hunted, and their magic stolen until one day they never revived.

Sighing again, she made her way up to the roof, trouble by the last few days events. There seemed to be so much she needed to focus on, and yet all she wanted to do was crawl back into bed.

She opened the roof to see a girl, and wondered how she had got up there."Excuse me? What are you doing here?" she asked wearily.

gabriel
@lugubrious @raijinslayer@oblivion666@hatakekuro
Gabriel woke to Loki's chatter. Did the spirit not need sleep? Was he making it his goal to annoy the hell out of Gabriel? Why couldn't Gabriel force the gate closed? "come on, get up! Things to do, Gabriel!" Gabriel threw his pillow at the spirit, who dodged it with a chuckle. Groaning, Gabriel rose, feeling like before the day was out his was going to have gone mad by the spirits behavior.

And he felt that the spirits presence was going to be more of a hinderance in the guild then anything else, especially after his appearance. Gabriel explained that he couldn't close the gate and that Loki seemed intent of watching Gabriel's every move.

As the spirit endlessly chatted, Gabriel said in annoyance "will you leave me alone for five minutes so I can dress in peace or would you like to see me naked?" he might have spoken a little too loudly, but Loki merely chuckled, leaving the tent. Gabriel took a deep breath, and pressed his fingers to his eyes. Why couldn't he force the gate closed? He drew in a few deep breaths and hurriedly changed his clothes, shoving everything in his pack, he swung it over his shoulder, and stepped out the tent. He blinked blearily about, seeing Loki eyeing his fellow guild mates, Gabriel said wearily "if they wanted to kill me Loki, they would have done so already." there was a strange comfort in his own words, and Gabriel stood a moment pondering them, cursing lightly and following after the rest of the guild, he fell in line, Loki striding along side him in what could only be considered a lions grace.

Gabriel tried to ignore him.

Glancing about them, Gabriel frowned at the atmosphere of the town, watching the cleric and his companions. While everything appeared well, it could not be denied that something was off here. Gabriel had passed through a lot of towns in his travels with his brother, and you could generally get a feel for it if you knew what to look for. This town was use to hardship, you could not doubt that.

He shifted, waiting to see if anything would happen.

jessie

Jessie woke an hour later then she normally would have, sleeping in, she woke to a note from her brother, saying he'd find her later in the day and they could hang out. She set the note aside, letting out a yawn and stretching. She was going to have some fun today, entertaining her self with Ferris.

She smiled at the thought, and wondered what he'd do when she mentioned her brother coming to spend the day with her. She showered, dressed and grabbing a bagel the hotel staff had sent up, she happily went on her way, biting into it and finding the surprise of gooey chocolate in its center. She wondered what genius had come up with such an invention, but decided right then it didn't matter. As she headed out the door, she grabbed the box it came in, deciding the bagels were too delicious to leave behind.

She had no doubt that Drew would find her easily enough, and so she made her way to Ferris's rooms, knocking on the door, she swallowed the last mouthful of bagel, a small smear of chocolate on her check as she said "Feeeeeeerissss!" She deliberately extended his name, "Come on! Get up! My brother wants to meet you!" She said cheerfully, shifting the box of bagels, "And I have bagels!"

Master Jamie
@Joshua Tamashii

Jamie let Sam and Amelia sleep in, taking the time to study the new members, reading over their files, she hoped that the renovations on the guild would be completed, or there would be people sleeping in the main hall of the guild. She also had other reports, some being on the dark guilds, others being on some issues that were still haunting them from the council attack.

Jamie had had correspondence with Masahiko, talking about the rune knights and what could be an alternative to them, and hoped that Carrie would follow Masahiko's ideas on that. Jamie had merely pointed out various mages across fiore who weren't apparent of any guilds, who might be good for the rune knights.

Setting the papers aside as Jarvis approached, and smiled at him. She allowed herself to be drawn away, and into his arms. She gave a slight nod, and let herself be led away from the table, with its papers.

"lets go wake the children, and we'll see about breakfast" She said after a moment, "We'll go out to eat"

Sasha

While Sasha knew it was a day off, she was nevertheless awake early, and downstairs, juice and breakfast on the table in front of her, even as she had her drawing pad out. In a thoughtful mood, she was merely sketching, letting her mind wonder.

She was troubled, and her breakfast lay forgotten, sketching out what looked like a landscape, mountains in the background, water in the front. There were other things about, but Sasha couldn't say she knew what it was she was drawing.

@Caits
Aisling sat upon the roof utterly exhausted as the sun rose ever higher, her attempts at meditation failing due to the hustle and bustle of the city below nothing like the quiet mountain air. Giving up she rummaged through her bag trying to find the last of her food. It was as she found it and unwrapped the package that the door opened behind her unnoticed, she stuffed the travel bread into her mouth as if it were candy.
A moment later a girls' voice spoke. "Excuse me? What are you doing here?"

Aisling stood and turned around to face the girl hands raised defensively nearly sending her bag back down the roof. “Uhm,” She said through a mouthful of dry bread. She stopped to swallow and continued. “Just enjoying the sights of the city... I guess,” at a loss for a way to explain why she was on the roof of a random building.

Looking around nervously she took note of the girls' bright red hair and eyes, she seemed about the same age and harmless enough. Aisling lowered her hands to her sides and relaxed her stance trying not to make her gesture seem obvious. Besides she would only be able to summon a gust of wind right now.

"Wha_{aat the hell...}" Trinity stared at the thick, marker mustache on her face in the mirror. [color=9000f9]"Tame, I guess. Hmph..."[color] She wiped the mustache off and stared at the unmarked lip. She called a makeup kit with Requip, doodling in a tiny mustache with a good spiral curl. "There we go." She smiled at the work she'd done, but now she needed to dress to it. Let's see... off-white sleeveless dress shirt and a red tie, black slacks and shoes and gloves.

Dressed and ready, the young lady made her way downstairs. "Ariel, where'd you get the wings?" She smiled at the girl as she passed her in the hallway. She reached to pet her wings for a moment before she carried on. "Want to come get breakfast with me?" She only needed to get some breakfast and she'd be ready to go with Karn to see the airship. She got herself a cheese and bacon omelette on an english muffin and a glass of orange juice, before going to find Karn to sit with, looking to see if Ariel was following or not.
@t2wave@Silver Fox

Joshua's eyes narrowed at the cat and he sighed and shook his head.
"You had to find one with a bit of attitude eh?" He said to Amaya before letting out a small laugh. "Still, I aint no chicken. I just watch over Amaya because she's a pacifist by nature. If a fight breaks out, I'll fight in her place since she dislikes it so much. But she also has a tendency to push herself too hard, so I have to look out for that as well. In other words, you need to keep an eye on her all the time.

Anyway, I'll go grab a shower and then maybe I will join you ladies for breakfast, if neither of you mind. If you do, I'll just be on my way and wish you a good day."



Elyse was silent for a second as she pondered the options. Then she utterly ignored all of them and went with the option that wasn't given to her.
"ALL!" She shouted happily, looking excited at the prospect of being together with everyone.



When Jamie and Jarvis went to wake her up, Amelia resisted at first, turning over and mumbling to herself. She would eventually wake up, sitting up with a yawn before rubbing her eyes and looking around. She gave her parents a small smile.
"Good morning Mama, Papa." She said while stretching out her wings.



Jackie nodded before leaving, heading to the basement and over to Aria. The two girls stared at each other for several seconds before Jackie spoke.
"You're the Observer? The member of the guild who would watch over others and report to my father, am I right?"

"No. I was only assigned to watch over you, Maiden of the Mist. And to terminate you, if you began failing at your duties."

"You had plenty of opportunities before now. Your attempt was sloppy, too public, and in an environment were you had no advantage. Why try?"

"... I was hesitating in my duty. I had to stop. So I acted."

Jackie frowned at this and studied the girl a bit more closely. It was apparent she had been trained just like Jackie had. But, Jackie remembered something from yesterday that would break the girl instantly. So, with one swift movement, she took Aria's headphones away and then used her magic to silence the girl as she opened her mouth to protest.
"You are going to do to remain silent." She said before putting on the headphones herself to listen to them for several minutes before tossing them aside. She recognized the pattern. Her father had used it make other more obedient, like a form of brainwashing. If this girl had been listening to it them entire time, possibly for years, that would explain her loyalty to their old guild and her unwillingness to accept that it was gone. Deciding that some decisive actions where needed, she tossed the headphones aside before using her magic to make a giant hammer and smashing them before leaving and returning to Master Jack.
"She's going to need help." She said.

@t2wave@CirusArvennicus
NOLAN

"What are you talking about? You know I'm an Ash God Slayer so why would you even ask?" This was strange, very strange. Why did she forget who he was? What happened? Well, from simple observation, he saw that she had two red wings protruding from her back. She must have had absorbed another form of magic and it gave her another personality that she can't control. Was this the reason why she couldn't remember him? Whatever she absorbed gave her a forgetful personality. Oh joy, how the hell was he going to deal with this absurdity? "Ariel, what in the fresh hell did you absorb this time? Some bird takeover magic or something?"

While he was interacting with Ariel, Trinity had stopped in the middle of the hallway and asked her about getting breakfast with her. Nolan, however, was completely ignored by the minstrel mage. Nolan face palmed himself and sighed in frustration with Ariel. God damn, she was certainly driving him up the wall. "Just go with her. My head is throbbing and you're not making it any better." He placed his pipe in his mouth and puffed out smoke from his lips.

@Caits
FERRIS

Ever so happily snug in his bed, the peaceful comfort would be interrupted by Jessie knocking and calling. He groaned slightly and slowly crawled out of bed with the blanket draped around him. It was just too comfy not to wear it. Whatever she was actually saying about her brother was actually half-heard in his daze like state and had yet to actually process through his brain. He opened the door to see Jess standing there with a big grin on her face, which he returned with a sleepy smile. Typically he wouldn't show anyone his disheveled self out of pure vanity though at the moment he was too tired to care.

He yawned loudly, his jaw stretched widely and he tried to rub the sleep out of his eyes. "Um, sorry what did you say? I actually didn't catch that. Come in, come in. No use in standing around." He turned around and walked back towards the bed, tossing the blanket that was draped around him onto the bed. All he was wearing was just a pair of boxers and a white tank top that looked very worn. His otherwise perfect hair was a complete mess as well. It was a long departure from his usual model look.

"You said it was about your brother?" He grabbed a bagel from the box and lazily began to chew on it.

@Lugubrious
ENMA

Talk about a shit hole. There were no other words left to describe the poor conditions that these people faced. The poverty the citizens of the city faced and the bleakness of life for them was foul. That rat bastard nobleman was living it up while these hard working people were facing a destitute way of life. How could people live in conditions like these? It's no wonder how the plague contaminated the city when they were all crammed together like a can of sardines. Hell, they would get sick in general with living conditions like these. He didn't even want to know what the inside of those houses were like. For all he knew, people could be living together in one room and be forced to live right on top of one another.

Enma glanced at the funeral procession and ground his teeth, his fists clenched and his eyes filled with an intense rage that he was trying to hold back with all his might. He was absolutely seething and the best way to cure it would to snap that nobleman's spine in two with his own hands. "How the hell did he think that we weren't going to see this? General, there must be a place where they're hiding the rest of the infected. It may be the best course of action to create a search team." He said with a gruff growl. As much as he wanted to force feed the noble his own stupid fashion attire, he had to remain calm. Being enraged won't benefit the guild's mission.

"Nevertheless, my help was declined, so I will stay here. Quietly. And wait patiently."

"Thaaaaank you, Kaia."

Kaia Iona

"Mmmhmm~" She hummed, gliding around the countertop to assist in the breakfast preparation.

"You say that Cyare," the blind girl teased, tossing a smirk over her shoulder at said Tactical Mage just as casually as she had thrown the blade and bludgeon across the room at her companion. She considered mentioning the fact that throwing things worked for her far better than being stationary ever could, but...

"Any special requests? Hate for one of you to keel over in the middle of it 'cause ya didn't get enough food."

@Silvan Haven @HereComesTheSnow

@Joshua Tamashii

Rose let out a light laugh ruffling Elyses hair "Maybe I can presuade your grandfather and uncle to join the guild...after I explain everything to them...I need you to choose either jamie or daddy cause there are things I dont want you to hear about me...Trust me" said rose gently "I havnt always been the person you grown to love unconditionally... So do you want to stay with Daddy or jamie today?"asked rose again

@Joshua tamashii@zarkun

Amaya scratched the back of her head "Uh Actually, I found her staring down at me on my chest when i woke this morning...supposedly she been trying to find me ever since me and the rest of team powderkeg took down the Rouge S-rank mage in the desert."she said

"No I am just stating a fact...you smell"Said Cecilla before listening to his explanation as she folded her arms "So you are basically her sword? Do you have ice magic to assist if she is exhausted?"Asked Cecilla as she got closer to him "You dont seem a magic type...more wimpy looking but a noble knight where it counts..."she said as her wings appeared before she flew around him stopping back infront "I guess I approve"[/color]said Cecilla

"Approve...he is a excellent friend Cecilla...and a excellent partner, he has an ice blade that helps me by giving me that magical need to consume ice to assist...you need to be nicer, I know it is early in the morning and everything but you need to be nicer."said Amaya grabbing the cat "Please excuse her joshua...I dont think she is use to sharing...I will let you go so you can get a shower and whatever...I am going to get to one of the stalls to eat today...it is suppose to be a nice restful day... See ya later."Said Amaya quickly getting out of his way carrying Cecilla with her hoping her newest partner wasnt going to cause any more trouble. Amaya stepped outside her guild's hotel taking in the smells as she caught a very familar one that recently passed by "Cecilla...Do you smell that...its another dragonslayer...Smells like Hunter from dragon's fang...I wonder what he plans to do today...Maybe he seen or heard from zero.."Said Amaya

"Who and what?"asked cecilla raising an eye brown climbing out of amaya's arms before climbing on to her shoulder as the dragon slayer quickly followed the scent. She took off to a run catching up to hunter before she matched his pace "Hey! Hunter....Whatcha doing?"asked Amaya looking over at him as cecilla messed with her bow watching

@hatakekuro@CirusArvennicus
Nolan didn't seem to take well to her and his frustration was clear. This caused Ariel to roll her eyes a bit and cross her arms. "I'm sorry? I can't help it. You try dying and being reborn with Phoenix magic. And according to Penny the memory issue is normal after reviving. I'll remember more through the day." A bit miffed she stepped back and turned to address Trinity's question and offer. "Phoenix magic. I'll be there in a minute." Since Nolan made it explicitly clear he didn't want Ariel around, the girl turned to leave. "Listen... I don't know what I did to make you so bent out of shape. But you could stand to be a little nicer. You think this personality changing is any easier on me? I'm the one that has to live with it every day." Taking a breath she calmed herself as the air was literally getting hotter. Not that it would bother either of them given their magic. Walking away Ariel shook her head. What a grouch.

Catching up with Trinity she got a decent amount of food to eat. Until now Ariel hadn't realized just how hungry she way. Probably could be blamed on the reincarnation. Every magic had its quark. The exchange with Nolan did stir up some memories, many of which lacked context. Something about Nolan having a phobia, her trying to help with the phobia, and lastly a kiss. None of those things seemed to make sense given how Nolan just acted. Sighing lightly she decided not to drive herself crazy and focusing on Trinity. "I hope your day is starting out better than mine."

Rosalina wasn't having a particularly cheerful morning. She didn't enjoy sleep as much as she used to, particularly when her dreams were plagued with disturbing images and memories that she'd like very much to push aside. It was as if she was being taunted by her own mind, forced to re-live moments of past failures and hypothetical downfalls in the near future. Needless to say, Rosalina did not get much sleep and was quite on edge. She sat in her chair at the Council meeting, silently bringing a cup of coffee to her lips. Her hat respectfully sat in her lap, Rosalina always remembering her manners in the presence of others. Although this did little to hide her exhausted visage. Hopefully the caffeine would start to kick in soon.

The other Council Members walked in one by one and began indulging in the generous breakfast spread that had been prepared for them. Rosalina had chosen a selection of fruits to accompany her coffee. She had been popping grapes into her mouth one at a time between sips of coffee. When everyone had settled in, Carrie begun the meeting by talking about Masahiko's absence. Rosalina had no strong opinion on the subject, and even if she had been against it she would have kept her concerns silent. Carrie did not look to be in the mood to argue with anyone.

Then the topic of the Rune Knights came up, and Rosalina's interest immediately piqued. She waited for Carrie to pause before clearing her throat, insisting on 'taking the stage' so to speak.
"I would be honored to volunteer my services in helping to reform the Rune Knights." The idea of having to recruit new members didn't particularly appeal to her, but Rosalina would learn to cope if it was for the good of the council. "I would also like to propose that we start with the Light Guilds to find members." That was all Rosalina had to say on the matter, and she awaited any rebuttal from the others on the idea.

When Carrie brought up that they would have to nominate someone to become a Saint, Rosalina pensively thought about the options. She didn't really in a position to be naming anyone, since she wasn't as in touch with the rest of Fiore as other members of the Council. The only people she'd be able to nominate would be right here in this room. She decided to stay silent, still unsure of an answer. She took another sip from her tea and awaited the opinions of her peers on the matter.



The hotel lobby was already seemingly packed with other Phoenix Wing members, eagerly awaiting the next day of the Magic Games. Isabella and Bullet were no exception of coarse, and even despite Bullet's complaints about being woken up so early, he was just as excited as Isabella was. If he had to be honest though, it was a little disappointing that he wouldn't be able to participate in the games this year. Isabella had told him that despite that, it was their responsibility to cheer on the others. Even the strongest of mages were worthless without the support of friends, or at least that was the young lady's philosophy on the matter.

The two were hanging around the lobby, Isabella dressed to impress as always in her gorgeous dress and Bullet looking as if he'd much rather be huddled under a pile of blankets. He would try to be lively for Isabella's sake.
"Oh stop looking so miserable, Bullet. Here!" Isabella removed a thermos of warm tea from her pouch as well as a couple of plastic cups. She began pouring the liquid out into the cups, while Bullet gave her a cheeky smile.
"You know I don't like milk in my tea." Isabella smiled at his comment before twisting the thermos cap closed as tight as she could.
"It will help you grow." She jested. A comment like that by anyone else normally would have warranted one of Bullet's knuckle sandwiches, but because Isabella was the one to say it all she got was a small, sarcastic laugh before Bullet downed the cup of tea with a scowl of disgust. Of coarse Isabella also loaded the stuff with way too much sugar. That's just what Phoenix Wing needed; hyper adolescents on a sugar rush.

Jack had looked towards the cellar when he heard the smash and watched as Jackie came back, sipping at his coffee, a small blue flame dancing just barely off the surface. When Jackie gave her decision, he raised an eyebrow. "And may I ask why? I happened to have noticed the sound of you smashing something."




Hunter looked away from the stall he'd been perusing as he walked as Amaya caught up and grinned, stopping to look at the kabobs before finally buying some and setting about to eating them. "Just trying to get a taste of all the different foods that are in Crocus for the games. And that, well, that's been trickier than I thought it would be." He then notices the cat in Amaya's arms and pokes Cecillia's cheek before shaking his head. "Don't tell me you're actually buying into the whole Slayer-Exceed thing. You don't need one to be a Slayer."

He stopped at another stall, finishing the last kabob, and buys the ice cream it's selling, offering Amaya a blue raspberry cone as he eats his own vanilla one. "Anyways, what brings you to me today? Figured Zero would have warned you away."




Damian had to admit, he'd seen slums that looked roomier than the normal housing he was looking at here. The people here were all as sickly looking as the noble had been and then it clicked. The housing, in a city the size that Belka was supposed to be, wouldn't look like this normally. Nor would he see any reason for the gaunt look of the populace. Which meant that someone had put two and two together before his and Frenzy Plant's arrival and had already begun dealing with the infection. Seemed like slow going to the Blade, but it wasn't his place to judge what little means the people had to protect themselves. Moving up, he ignores the Oni's cover breaking statement and gets closer to Sanders, staying just behind him and keeping his voice low so only Sanders and a few others around them from Frenzy Plant could hear him. "Guild Master Sanders, I think someone already figured out there's something wrong with the food and water. Or at least the food. There are too many people in such a small area of a decent sized city."