~Ceri~

@Valor@Lord Sawsaw2@Savo@Suku
Alexandria, Mis, Cyril, Saeko

---

Ceri jumped a bit when Saeko shouted her arrival, sighing as she realized it was Saeko. Just the other member of their team. Nothing to be startled about there, Saeko was nice after all. A little...quick to action at times, but Ceri liked her. She was always so determined while she struggled to even fight a bug the size of her finger. Hopefully if she was just around them she could learn how to at least be a little more determined.

"Well then, y'should of gotten more beauty sleep Saeko! Beautiful people do need their beauty sleep after all. Anyways, 'ello Mis-tifying beauty, Ceri, Sae, and Alex, hope the day has been treating you all well,"

Oh good. It was Cyril. Ceri instinctively put Mis between her and the other member of their team. Ceri really had no reason to dislike the guy. He was perfectly friendly...but he was overly so. When they had first met he had tried to give her a hug without her even knowing he was there. Yeah, that didn't go over so well. The Nest smelled like smoke for days after that incident. Really, she had no reasons to dislike him, but he was always so...forward. And that just made her twitchy for a number of different reasons.

"Hi Saeko...C-cyril..." She greeted both of them with a pleasant tone regardless, though. As long as Cyril didn't try anything she'd be fine. "W-we should get moving, right?" She said, echoing Alexandria's words a bit. As nervous as she was after the announcement, she would feel even worse if she was late or somehow didn't make it on time.

---

---

Seto could already feel his characteristic mischievous grin forming as he casually walked towards a very specific area of Luna Crescente's park, naturally reacting to a very specific conversation that reached his ears by coincidence as he leisurely wandered through the park to find an amusing way of wasting the money from his most recent mission - received barely a couple days ago and yet already mostly wasted in food stalls in the way to Luna Crescente - the clear happiness in his face foreshadowing imminent trouble as he made his way towards the well known group of mages that planned to make use of the park's less crowded area to capture Golem's Hand number 1 trouble child.

Why was he so happy for such a seemingly unrelated to him event, though? Well, having just a bit of knowledge about the identity of the specific mages, their usual jobs and Seto's tendencies would undeniably make the reason cristal clear for anyone who'd ask this question: If Squad 1 was here to capture Vega, it was more than clear that Delsin wanted to talk with him about something he'd want to avoid and, specifically due to the urgency of the situation, gave the Illusionist the perfect opportunity of making some trouble not only for the Guild Master and Angela - Both responsible for most of the nagging about his trouble-making - without any repercussion (After all, he wasn't even in the city officially, having avoided visiting the guild since returning from his mission, and most certainly wasn't the only illusion user in the surroundings, although he doubted that someone as competent as himself lived in the city) but also troubling Vega himself, since "helping" the less-than-likeable mage in this specific situation would most certainly result in the runaway being heavily punished by Delsin later.

With all of this in mind, it wasn't that surprising that Seto didn't even hesitate before making use of his illusion magic to cloak his presence - making it seem like he vanished into thin air to any random passersby - and inconspicuously approach the scene, stopping roughly 10 meters away from the group as he waited until the perfect opportunity to act appeared - fact that happened a few seconds later, as Vega finally drew his signature scythe, signalizing that the battle was about to start.

It didn't take more than this to trigger Seto into acting, as he immediately started to spread his magic power in preparation for a spell, taking barely a couple seconds before he triggered a fairly large scale - though hardly as detailed as his usual constructs - illusion, not only creating multiple incorporeal copies of Vega - around 30 - between him and the guild mages but also concealing the mage's true body under a poorly structured illusion induced invisibility, making him sort of meld with the surroundings and yet maintaining the true skill level of the caster hidden, hopefully making it harder for the mages to guess his identity.

Talking with this man was ketting on Kage’s nerves. Something about his mannerisms irritated her. She wished he would go away. Plus he stank.

"Ya know you joined not to long ago and already you're kicking some major ass with these jobs," "You've even gotten a few admirers that are just dying to know you're past. Ya know since you got this whole mystery girl thing going on,"

Irritation gave way to unease then slight panic. She didn’t need this. Not now. Not when she had just settled in here. Independent of her inner turmoil, Kage coolly leveled her gray eyes at Jack. This conversation was starting to get uncomfortable. She sought for an escape. She needed a way to throw him off. Something that will abort this line of questioning. Something that will...

"I could care less about you're past though, I'm just interest in the way you fight. Similar magic, but different ways of using them," he looked to her with a hint of excitement in his eyes. "One of these days we need to spar with each other, see which one is stronger and learn a few new tricks. What do ya say, think you're down with a friendly brawl?" He asked with enthusiasm. "Loser has to pay for a full round of drinks for the whole guild." he said setting the bar a bit higher.

Ah-ha.

She slid a mask into place.

Kage stared at him with a flat expression. She drew in a breath to reply. With a serious expression she said, “So you’re saying you want sex?”

The resulting rainbow in the sudden spray of beer was quite beautiful.

However, Kage almost regretted the low blow.

Almost.

@Joker892

Jack paused for a moment causing his precious alcohol spill onto the onto the bar as he processed Kage's words. Slowly he rested his mug onto the table and looked to her with slightly widened eyes. "Sex?" he questioned. After a few seconds his mind finally came back to him and a large grin rolled onto his face before he exploded with laughter. Tears filled his eyes as he held his ribs and cackled. It took him a minute or two, but when he finally calmed himself down he cleared his eyes of his joyful tears and took a deep breath before speaking. "Jeez Kage you almost killed there," he said as he chuckled the rest of his amusement away.

"Though," he paused as he rested his head into his hand and stared at her with a smirk. "I if ya want we can change up the bet into something more... fun," he finished with a chuckle. "I mean it'd be nice to see what's under all that," he said gesturing to her clothing. He held his hand above the bar and began to create a small shadow figure in the shape of a slim woman. "But you of course gotta be worth my time if ya want to do a little exploring," he said with a wink before he returned to his drink. As he took a large swig he glanced to her and let his smirk grow. "So Ms. Mystery women, wanna take the bet, or are ya to afraid?" he said with both a challenging and playful twinkle in his eyes.

@Crimson Raven

It worked. Sort of. An invisible tension in the air unwound.

Kage didn’t outright laugh with Jack, but pure amusement sparkled in her eyes, and she had a small grin on her otherwise impassive face.

She shook her head to his questions. “Kidding.” She said. “No interest in...” She trailed off and waved away his shadow woman with a shadow of her own, signaling what she ment.

Then she abruptly went quiet. A long strange silence passed after Jack offered his challenge. She sat there absolutely still, seemingly lost in her own thoughts. She was honestly perplexed by his offer. The idea of fighting for...for fun confused her. When people drew a gun or a sword, they drew it with the intention of hurting another. That is what those tools were for. To her, Magic was a similar tool, although one with a myriad of other uses. Perhaps a hammer was a better analogy, she thought. One often swung a hammer at a nail, but when would one need to swing a hammer at a person? Only if they intended bodily harm. One did not swing a hammer at a person to practice for hammering nails. Just like one didn’t use dangerous magic against another on a whim. The likelihood of injury was too high.

However, the world wasn’t such a nice place. To live, to be free, one would have to be good at swinging that hammer. She knew this too well.

After several minutes of blank silence, Kage abruptly remembered that Jack existed.

“I’m terrified.” She said quietly. Of what, she didn’t elaborate. She stood, picked up and put on her mask, sgnaling the end of the conversation. She gathered up the used dishes and utensils, then walked away.

A few steps and she stopped. “There is no such thing.” She turned her head to face Jack, nothing but the expressionless white mask showed. “As a ‘friendly brawl’.”

Without another word she walked a loop around the table once, then brought the dishes back to the bar.

@Joker892

@Lord Sawsaw2 (Angela)
@Spanner (Seto)

---

"Like I said, or are you all deaf? Humor me", as the squad set up their usual setup, Vega made his mad dash first towards Dennis. He didn't seem intent on running. Dennis raised his shield as Vega smashed his scythe against it, as expected there wasn't enough force for the bulwark of a man to be held back from retaliation, and so he raised his axe, moving the shield aside for a clean swing. There was a certain frustration in the swing, almost as if he was sick of something, but despite that it did not reach it's mark. Vega was quick as to be expected, so he was already rearing the shield to catch Vega sidestepping the attack, but the special squad wasn't the only one familiar with their opponent. For all his arrogance and troublemaking, Vega was unexpectedly smart, and so he too learned their moves.

With an enchained arm, he braced against the shield as if he was landing on a vertical surface while the chains unraveled and did their work, this was only meant to bind, and he knew it wasn't going to keep Dennis immobilized for longer than maybe a few moments at best. Using the force of the shove, with chains coming out his arm as he flew back, he made use of the momentum to jump to go right at Steven. At that moment several pillars of metal strung out to bar him, but Vega simply wreathed his legs and arms in his magic, breaking the chains behind him as Dennis broke free. He jumped from pillar to pillar, each one halted as he landed on them, quickly making his way for Steven.

The fencer made a decisive thrust, wreathed in lightning, at least trying to graze him, but at that moment Vega had completely become enveloped in his black purple aura, the grazing lightning eaten up as he entered Death God's Veil, coming down heavy from above with his scythe, creating a crater where Steven once stood who had quickly moved out of the blast zone. As the form was being deactivated, a shadow had come over him. The weight of this presence, and size. Dennis had taken the form of a gorilla, two arms wielding that axe of his, and was launched by a makeshift metal catapult courtesy of Jardon. Vega barely managed to jump away, and the pure force of the shockwave sent him flying. The thunderous attack would leave a crater and the noise would carry far.

Vega mid-flight was in the middle of being intercepted by both Jardon's magic from behind as he flew towards the prison dome, while Steven gave chase, using his lightning to keep up. Changing his scythe to a sickle and chain he lashed it out to his side, catching a tree and using it as a pivot to fly him out of this disadvantageous position, before transforming it back into a knife, flying back at Dennis and creating a large halberd, using the momentum of his flight, he swung the ethereal blade down, putting one foot over the top of it for added force as he landed, smashing against Dennis' shield. The poor ground below Dennis being dealt two craters in the same spot, now had two sinks where his feet sunk into the ground, but his arms were still in their gorilla state, and so it was easy for him to swing the shield to ward Vega away, but as he did... Vega was nowhere in the sky. A cry out within his head would have Angela inform him to his sides. Though the orders were concise, and quick, Vega himself was still quite quick, managing to deal a blow to one of Dennis' arms, causing his axe arm to shrink. It wasn't a complete drain, but it was enough that he got a hit in. Dennis was still easily good to go, the man was a physical powerhouse, so this strike didn't mean much.

As soon as Vega turned however, a warning from his instincts, he was met with a rather determined looking Jardon, eyes full of intent, however at that very moment, he hesitated. Vega would quickly realize why, he was seeing double, triple, or... More. Of himself. A chance. And courtesy of who? He knew who. When faced with such a simple attack that faltered, Vega knew not what he was actually seeing that made him stop for a moment, but it was enough for him to slip past, entangling him in chains as he did, leaving him bound as he disappeared into his horde of copies. Illusions they were.

Even if these seasoned mages were familiar with this magic and can see through it, it was more a matter of how quickly they can. Vega was fast, he didn't need magic to sprint as fast as he did, and so he would manage to slip away. The prison-like dome had a hole in it where he supposedly escaped by the time they cleaned up. Ironically someone like Vega would've cleared these simple illusions possibly near instantly with a simple area of effect at the right moment when they would bunch up. Still, in the distance the team could just hear his manic laughter as a final insult.

On the bright side, the big pile of food on the bench was theirs now.

Coughing up the excess water that was in his lungs, the lizardman hears the pattering of footsteps coming towards him. Dreadlin looks up, only to see quite the eyes of a disappointed Pan looking down on him. The scaly beast's eyes drooped in realization as he quickly takes a look around him. He could only chuckle lightly as he tries to shake off the harsh reception.

"Oh - uh..." he stammers awkwardly in between a chuckle like a shamed kid, "Sorry abaaaht da mess mate. L-Looks like I got a little ahead ov myself didn't I?"

Thankfully for Dreadlin, the anger was only short lived as he issues a toothless grin that's not to love, ensuring that he'll get the creature next time. The lizardman couldn't help but to issue his own toothy grin, along with a faint sigh of relief that he won't get wasted on by the nature-lovin' enthusiast. With another hearty laugh he slowly gets up onto his feet as he scratches his head. He takes a gander at the lake, still seeing the blood churn part of the lake into a dark-red liquid. It was a shame to see the crystal blue water get tainted so easily.

"I've been 'ryin' ter track that damn wyvern fer weeks." he explains as he turns towards Pan, "Add 'im ter me eva growin' collecshun yew know? Only fer 'im ter slip fruff me fingers..."

Dreadlin then notices the body of Eloise laying unconscious in the mud, no doubt scared to the point where she fainted. Poor little thing. He sighs yet again as he places his fists on his hips and shakes his head in shame.

"God dabit."

Even with a light-hearted remark coming from Pan, it did take the lizardman a few good seconds to finally shake himself out of it. At least he didn't hurt the child on accident, that would've been really bad for him. He then realizes the child must've come over to tell the two something.

"Whatche say?" Dreadlin asked curiously as he relaxes his posture and walks on over.

Pan would wink and tell him that Arianna and the others at the guild were waiting for them.

"Wouldn't wanna keeper waitin', would ya?"

The lizardman nods in simple acknowledgement.

"Agreed. Lez' git a move on." he responds bluntly as he follows the Pan back to the Guild Hall.

Interacting with: @Joker892

Laying on the table Damian just observed the conversation from afar and how it escalated. It was quite amusing seeing Jack still trying to offer fighting, that guy is never content huh. Well everyone trains somehow, whether it's fighting a dummy or picking bar fights. Damian shifted his left leg up and folded his right leg right over it.

The young boy raised an eyebrow when Jack began talking about similar magic, he knew Jack used shadow magic though he was not the typical shadow mage. Usually such mages would refer to more sneaker and rouge like uses though Jack was the opposite. He provided pressure by being all in your face, true to the guilds ideals of magic. Excercising strict control over the shadows to fit his style of fighting. Damian doesn't tend to pay such close attention to everyone's magic unless they have such a presence in his life yet there was 3 people in Golems hand who's magic he was familiar with. Most notably the 3 are known as trouble makers in the guild.

Since Damian has been with the guild, there was never not a time Jack didn't offer to fight him. Though he does not know all of Jacks moves he does have a concept for his style of fighting. All those pointless fights he has been in certainly plays out. He may not sound the most intelligent on the outside, his fists tell a different tale.

Seto's illusion magic is dangerous in its own right, if he really wanted he could screw you over and you wouldn't even know it, the battle can be over before it even begins. Thank the heavens he is the most reasonable of the three. Plus his illusions aren't always bad ones, some are certainly enjoyable. Cruel, but enjoyable while it lasts.

Last and the most dangerous, Vega. Certaintly their two magics clash rather harshly. One set on prosperity while the other set on gluttony. Being able to eat up magic at its root is problem any mage faces. What's even more problematic is the attitude he carries. Fighting against him would certaintly only be a last resort.

The thought of those 3 soon was broken as he heard sex. A curveball out of nowhere as Damian's eyes shot open staring at the ceiling. Was she serious? With Jack? Though the answer was clear after Jack started dying of laughter. Once again Damian closed his eyes again eavesdropping on the conversation once more. Though soon it had gone silent for a few minutes, was it over? Damien opened his right eye and peeked over in there direction turning his head a little. Nope, they were still sitting at the bar just in silence. Unless they lowered their voice. Soon he heard the stool move as someone got up, that person being Kage. Her mask in the same place like always. It seemed like the conversation was over as she gave her decision on Jacks offer.

There is no such thing as a friendly brawl. She was certaintly a strange one. Damian rose from the table stretching and giving a yawn as planted his feet on the ground,his eyes became a bit misty. Making his way over to Jack just as Kage finished her loop around the table.

"Quite the conversation you two had, didn't know you had it in you like that Jack" he said giving a sly grin. Damian took the seat at the bar, opposite the side Kage was sitting previously. "Sorry for listening in on your conversation." The boy held his hands together as he shook his head at the bartender coming over to see if he wanted anything.

"You said you could care less about her past though doesn't strike you strange how little we know about her. She rarely hangs around the hall and most assignments she does independently and succeeds without trouble. Me and Kage have been in the guild just about the same amount of time as well yet she is on par with some of the vets. Like I am strange but at least you guys know my personality and where to find me if I am needed." he spoke in a quiet tone so the others couldn't hear. He didn't want the others to grow suspicious as well.

"I'm just curious, I don't feel as though she is a threat, but I at least want to understand the deal with her and get rid of this odd feeling.. Damian left it at that awaiting Jacks response. Show that you are a capable individual, he prayed he didn't pick a fight.

Jack watched as Kage left and grinned as she stated that there was no such thing as a friendly brawl. He chuckled and knocked back the rest of his second mug before moving on to his third. He'd have to teach her wrong someday. As he returned to his drink he glanced over to see Damian come over and take a seat. Jack gave him a grin and shrugged off the fact he was listening in on him and Kage. He's sort of use to people listening in on him. Most were contract killers, some from the government and on a few occasions the Boss himself. Damian though is a new little listener, the only difference with him is that he's not out for Jacks head.

Soon Damian began to voice his concerns about Kage and how he wanted to clarify a few things about her and her past. Jack just listened while taking a few sips from his drink and let Damian words floated around in his head. Honestly he had a point, Kage was a little odd and it was sort of weird that she was able to get around his level so fast, but as Jack said before, he doesn't care. He let Damian finish and sat in silence as he pieced his reply together. After a few seconds of silence he sighed and looked to Damian. "I guess you're right, everything about her is strange. Her skills are top notch for a newbie and her past is nothing but a freaking mystery. But," he paused for a second and let his face drop into a slightly serious look. "Some of us don't want people knowing our past. Be it either out of shame, distrust or simple privacy most people would like to keep their past in the shadows. Take me for example, you think I was always like this?" he asked with a dry chuckle. "When I came here I was a bit like her. I stayed away from people and kept to myself while keeping my past hidden. Two of those three things have changed. Not a single person in this guild knows my background, I would hope, and I pray no one ever will," he said and sighed as he returned to his drink for a quick sip.

"What I'm trying to say is that she may not want people to know for her own reasons. I'm sure as hell not gonna pry on it, so why don't you do the same and stay out of her business? he said as he glanced over to him as he drank for his mug. "And if she has a secret that will put the guild in danger then I'll do my job and put her down," he finished coldly. The two were silent for a moment, Jacks mood was a little bit ruined now, but he knew how to fix that. He tapped on the table and held up five fingers to the bartender who nodded and went to get his order. He looked back to Damian and grinned. "Besides, the whole mystery vibe she gives off is a bit cool don't ya think? Makes me want to test her abilities myself," he chuckled and thanked the bartender as he slammed five mugs onto the table. He slid one over to Damian and grinned. "Come on now, lets have a drink. If ya want we can have a friendly challenge!" he laughed. He need to brighten his mood, so why not drink!

@pkken

Interacting with: @Joker892

Damian listened as Jack spoke some truths, he didn't turn to look at him at all though. What he was saying himself made a lot of sense. When Jack asked him the rhetorical question on whether he was always the battle hungry guy Damian honestly wanted to give a response. Though as the talk went on he thought deeper about the situation everyone was in. Himself included, in a way the guild was like an escape from the past lives they once had. Maybe Jack picked a fight with people to cope with some kind of pain, the same way Damian lazes around Luna Crescente sleeping on any soft surface with good sunlight he can find.

A safe haven perhaps, Damian just tilted his head down and smirked as he stared at the bar table. Even he himself hadn't told everyone the whole truth on what happened before he joined Golem's hand, only that he was traveling the land.

Yet none of the others questioned his bullshit lies, he was strange himself. Just traveling the land and wielding a lost magic was enough red flags, especially at such a young age. Yet no one raised any suspicion about him. Jack then proposed saying he will put her down if there is any threat. Shortly after the table fell into cold silence as the two gathered their thoughts.

"Heh, now I feel kind of like a dick. he said taking in a deep sigh. Soon a Mug slid over his direction, Damian stared into the cup seeing a murky reflection of himself before looking over at Jack who said to drink. The boy just shrugging, he grabbed the cup.

"Just this once ill oblige to your interests because I owe you one" this was probably Damians first time drinking such a beverage in a while. Back in the village they made such concoctians out of fruits. As he took a swig his eyes shot open as the bitterness of the beer hit his tongue, how the hell can Jack drink so damn many of them. This taste is unbearable! He thought to himself as he swallowed and placed the mug down, the looked back into the cup staring at the liquid. Damian questioned if he really wanted to die today. The boy peered over at Jack and watched as he downed the mugs like water.

I hate owing favors

Damian took a deep breath before downing the rest of the beer in one go before slamming the empty mug on the table, as the bitterness hit him all at once he tried to keep a straight face.

"You got yourself a challenge battle junky" He looked back at his adversary with watery eyes as he was still dying from the taste. Maybe he wasn't so bad, he's just as misunderstood as everyone else. Issuing challenges and getting hammered was his way of getting through the tough times. One thing was certain though.

Damian had a newfound respect for the guy

((@Ogobrogo, @lmpkio))

Eloise choked and spluttered as she was rudely awakened from her brief stint of unconsciousness by a sudden rush of water on her face. Blearily looking around in a mild panic, she finally pieced together the events leading up to the point where she found herself lying in the mud on the side of the lake. Turning around, she looked down the lakeside to see her two quarries, Pan and Dreadlin, walking away from her towards the distant form of a boat on the lake. Stumbling to her feet, she raced along the shoreline behind them.

"Waaaaait! Do you even know where you're going?! And what if the monsters come back?"

A bit ruffled and disoriented from the whole experience, Eloise at least took solace in the fact that at least she'd completed her task and had delivered the message successfully. From here it should be a relatively easy task to just help them quickly back across the lake where they should hopefully be able to find the guildmaster by calling for her, at which point Eloise would finally be able to rest easy.

---

((@Sho Minazuki, @Spanner))

The acquisition of Vega was going well, they had him caged and surrounded, so when he decided to take the fight to them, Angela was neither surprised nor concerned. Directing the fight like a conductor from the back, everything was going well, as the noose was slowly tightening around Vega's neck, with Jardon slowly putting out more bars in strategic places to funnel their quarry's movements into a more manageable set of patterns. Just as they closed in for the final strikes however, a spanner was thrown into the works, or more accurately about thirty of them were.

Stunned by the sudden appearance of 30 Vega illusions (for they could be nothing else), Angela was a fraction too late onher warning for Jardon, and he was unable to avoid Vega's chains in time. Flashing over from the other side of the fight, Steven tried to keep the original in sight and contained, but he swiftly disappeared into the crowd of illusions. As the team kicked into overdrive to clear the illusions, a big red X appearing over each proven illusion in their sight courtesy of Angela, she called out loudly enough for anyone in the square to hear:

"You know, Vega, Delsin probably wants to talk to you about the S-Class trials. If you want to be a measly A-Class for the rest of your days here, not going to see him before the announcement like he wants is a great way to go about it...

Not that an ingrate like you would ever be chosen in the first place."

Turning and walking towards the edge of the dome, leaving the rest of the team to sort through the clones to see if for some reason the real one was still inside, Angela scanned the square for any signs of her least favorite illusionist. Any of the illusionists in town could have done this, certainly, but there was only one of them who would even vaguely consider helping Vega out, even excluding the fact that they'd be putting themselves on the bad side of a full team of S-Class mages. No, there was only one person this could have been.

"I know you're out there Seto. Buddying up with Vega now are we? A proper pair of miscreants you are. I'm sure the rest of the guild will love to hear that you two are such great friends now. Maybe we should put you both in the same room since you're so close, how does that sound?"

Around her, the cage began to dissolve and flow back towards Jardon. They'd found the hole and knew their target was gone. With no real info on where he would be going next, there was no reason to chase, particularly with the announcement coming up reasonably soon. Gathering around Angela, the group headed off back towards the guild hall.

---

Illedrith turned back to the group just in time to hear Alexandria address the rest of the gathering.

“Time has passed a fair amount. Perhaps we should move along before we grow rooted to the ground here and miss the meeting in town? Illedrith, Ceri and I were going to walk together to the meeting that’s happening in town. Would you two care to join us, barring any objections from the others?”

With Ceri mirroring the sentiment a moment later, Illedrith agreed. The sun was well on its way towards the horizon, and it wouldn't do to be late for the announcement.

"You're both absolutely right. We've got plenty of time to grab a snack in town, or look at the traditionally present activities around the square before the announcement, but we should be getting going. I really hope they have those themed attractions based off the well known mages again; I had no end of fun messing with the townies in the Mirror Maze last year, I can't wait to see what they think of this year."

- - - - - - - - - -

The walk into town was, as ever, pleasant. With the flowers and trees to either side of the path across the lake in full bloom at this time of year, the promenade was a riot of colour and life. Bumping into one or two of their guildmates at a time as they wandered into town, they were soon a veritable throng of Harpy's Wing members all cluttered together, chatting away with each other as they sauntered through the outskirts of Luna Crescente. The townsfolk gave them a wide berth for the most part, preferring not to get in the way of a large and energetic group of mages, but they were hardly ones to be starting trouble, and the walk went without incident.

Finally, the group arrived at the town square outside the mayor's townhouse. The whole place was covered, wall to wall, with streamers and bunting. Usually they would have been all in one colour and bearing the logo of the Harpy, but now there were two colours mixed together, and every other logo was the Fist of the Golem. Plenty of guild members from both guilds already filled the area, with the merchants and attractions all set up around the outside of the square and down the little alleys that came off it. Normally there would have been a reasonable level of tension between both groups guild members, but today there was a much more important thing to be focused on, so the tension was significantly decreased, with everyone having a good time on what was practically a festival day for most of them.

The most conspicuous thing to Illedrith, however, was that there was no fighting arena set up. Typically when the S-Class trials occurred, the final component would be a tournament or a fight of some kind, but this year that traditional raised platform was entirely absent, and there didn't seem to be anything that would naturally replace it... Still, she imagined that everything would be revealed when Ria turned up. There had already been one curve ball announcement today, so who was saying there couldn't be a second? Gravitating towards the food booths, she decided not to dwell on it too much; after all, a non-combat trial might even be a benefit to some of her team, so she wouldn't be found complaining!

---

"Heh, stupid old hag. Serves them right...", Vega sunk into the lower streets a little ways towards the outskirts of town. He'd already gotten the message, he was to go see Delsin, and he was going to comply, although he just wanted to cause a bit of trouble and blow off some steam first. The entire idea of cooperating with the Harpies didn't sit well with him. He'll go see Delsin soon, but not before he checks in around here for a little something.

"Oi, open up", the door before him laid unopened, silent.

"You want another repair bill? Open up", still silence... Vega clicked his tongue before stepping back a bit.

The door burst to splinters as it flew across the room spreading across the floor.

"Yoooo, how's it going?", though within moments he found himself darting to the side to avoid a few thrown sharp objects, before catching the second volley with a second sidestep and then throwing it back. The surprise assailant found himself petrified as he was inches away from a knife in his skull.

"Hey hey, that's no way to greet a customer. Come on, usual batch. I happen to have an idea for some fun, so I'm not gonna break anything in you this time, if you just hand it over", the person down here based on the establishment seemed to be some kind of chemist.

"O-okay, but-", a pile of money landed at the man's feet. The middle aged shopkeep seemed a little surprised.

"What? Never seen a paying customer before? Just got it done or I'll try my usual form of payment", and with that the man darted off into his back rooms, in a minute or two he came back out with a bag of... Something. It was a small bag, but inside looked like pellets.

"Hm? A little extra?",

"W-well, the money you gave me equates to that much", he was nervous, but for someone who dealt in back street areas, he was surprisingly diligent in his job.

"Whatever, I'm in a hurry I'll take it", with a swift movement he snatched the bag up and headed out, slipping the bag into the back pockets where it'd be hidden under his coat and sash.

"Have a good day... Oh and, maybe open the door next time? You dolt", and with that he was gone, heading back towards the center of the city.

~Ceri~

@Valor@Lord Sawsaw2@Savo@Suku
Alexandria, Mis, Cyril, Saeko

---

Ceri happily followed Mis to the town center, for the most part keeping quiet most of the walk in favor of walking along hurriedly behind her. She had yet to experience an S-class trial here at Haryp's Wing, and the amount of sheer energy in the air was enough to make her more than a little nervous, moreso than she normally was. Still, at least no one was paying attention to her for the most part. A mixed blessing - in large crowds such as this it was easy to get lost in and pass unnoticed, but at the same time it so much more frightening.

She hoped she didn't somehow get separated from Mis. She'd probably get lost, otherwise. She walked over to the food booths with Mis, looking at all the delicious food that was being offered. So many things she hadn't seen or tasted before! It all smelled good, too. Oof, she wanted to try all of them but she could hardly eat that much!

She cast a glance over to Mis, and then to the food again. Maybe something to eat would calm her nerves a bit.

"Uhm, uhm..." Urf, she still couldn't decide what she wanted. Having little to no experience with this sort of thing was really making it difficult, and there was just so many to choose from. "Something sweet?..."

@Lord Sawsaw2 (Delsin)

---

Vega strolled back through the guild hall. A lot of the lower level guild members would try and keep a low profile while others simply didn't mind. Though it was mostly new members that feared him, his presence in the guild when he first joined, for that month, new member counts plummeted completely, but now most are aware that the reality is he isn't as mean to the guild... For some reason. Word is Delsin has a leash on him, but it was a somewhat common misconception and not to be blamed for. It certainly did seem that way. Vega wasn't an idiot. He was in some way, respectful to Delsin, but it seems just about no one else in this guild has earned his full respect yet, with some close contenders on a basic level. Otherwise...

"So? What'd you want? I was having such a nice stroll in the park until Angela showed up", you would be forgiven for thinking he was respectful. For a man of discipline like Delsin, all too pragmatic, leading to some thinking he may have let Vega in due to his magic being the perfect defense against other Dark Mages, he accepted someone like Vega.

"If this is about the S class trials, I'm still going, but I like it even less this year, for reasons I'm sure you know", Vega collapsed back into the chair in his office, waiting for the guild master to tell him what was up.

Absence. That was the only way to describe Kazue. In fact, that singular word described both her reputation and her current state of mind. She was rarely seen by the guild. Only those who sought to investigate jobs suddenly vanishing from the board were given clues on her existence. In fact, only a select few of both guilds knew her face. Most people who did know of her only knew of her as a money-grubbing ninja. A fact that, for all intents and purposes, was 100% correct. But in her current state, Kazue's mind was empty. She needed focus.

She never had the luxury of dwelling on the little things. She always had to focus on her next plan and scheme. Preparations were everything - especially for today. Of course, sometimes preparations made little sense. For example, hiding inside of a bush for the past hour.

With nothing on her mind, time seemed to slip and fade. She was in perfect concentration for hunting. And hunting she did. All she needed was for her prey to get closer. The prey had been skulking around this bush for some time, but had never reached close enough to the bush. Of course, Kazue's luck was about to change. Perhaps out of curiosity, perhaps out of carelessness, her prey walked closer and closer to the bush.

In one fell swoop, Kazue's stagnant mind awoke. She quickly began to think - all possible escape plans for the beast. Almost instantly, she grabbed shuriken from her bags. Like a bolt of lightning, the shuriken quickly struck around the beast, causing it to jump up in shock. The leaping Kazue, still in mid-air, grabbed the beast by the nape of its neck.

"Mraooow!" The beast had exclaimed.

In one fell swoop, Kazue lightly dug her hand along the ground, allowing for her momentum to shift and her legs to come in to stop her short flight. She looked at her prey triumphantly. This kitty had done well to evade others for so long, but compared to a master ninja? Nothing but a mere trifle - a joke.

Of course, confused bystanders looked at Kazue awkwardly. There was just a cat in the middle of town and someone jumped out of a bush, grabbing the cat and throwing little metal stars on the ground? It was an awkward situation. Nobody made eye-contact. Nobody wanted to acknowledge what had just transpired.

With cat in hand, Kazue quickly ran away.

The reward, of course, was 5000. A nominal amount of money. Though, her employer was confused when he turned away to grab the money, they realized the reward was already gone and Kazue had been replaced by a log.

---

But of course, it was time for the big announcement. The S-class trial. A large crowd was gathering - Kazue was no good with crowds. For the solitary life of a ninja, crowds were simply just a way to escape detection. It would be obvious that Kazue would be in disguise. A near-perfect disguise, in fact. Everything was changed about her. Her long gold hair had been replaced by a short black pixie-cut. Where her hair had went? Unknown. Her clothing could only be described as cute and non-ninja like. She even had a mask on - a perfect reproduction of a human face, making her look as though she actually displayed emotion. Though, the mask only had the singular emotion of smug. Of course, her disguise wasn't perfect - she was still extraordinarily short.

Despite this, she blended in perfectly with the crowd. Mostly because she was too short to be seen within it. In fact, she didn't even need the disguise.

She eagerly awaited the announcement - an S-class trial would let her become an S-class mage. Then, she could take on even harder jobs for even more money. She salivated at the thought.

Jacks smile grew even wider as he looked to Damian with a new fire within his eyes. "Then lets start off with the big guns!" he laughed as he looked to the bartender. "You know what I want," the bartender smirked and shook his head as he glanced to Damian.

"Get ready for a long one kid," he chuckled before going into the back. Jack quickly downed his drink and sighed with relief.

"This is gonna be good," he muttered before spotting the bartender returning with two trays of mugs filled to the brim with beer. He placed one tray in front of Jack and placed the next in front of Damian. The bartender chuckled before going back to his other duties and leaving the two alone. Without hesitation he snatched the first meg and looked to Damian with a grin. "You better not wuss out on me to early!" he laughed before chugging down his drink.

@pkken

Interacting with: @Joker892

Damian was still trying to get the bitter taste of beer, he was not one who took part often in drinking. As Jack looked back at him with excitement the young boy could only feel despair. What did I put myself into. Soon his older guildmate gave a sign to the bartender to bring out a dastardly concoction, the boy gulped as the drink was placed in front of him. Damian rubbed the back of his neck as he tried to get a hold on his wits. As he saw Jack down the drink without any hesitation he looked back at the beverage in front of him.

As Damian grabbed the mug a bit of beer dripped onto the counter, he just smirked back at the guy before trying to down the drink. Tipping his head back, Damian took two large gulps getting a quarter of the drink down before the alcohol began burning the back of his throat. Quickly putting the mug down he could feel his body getting warm and his face red.

"Awe man, I don't feel too good" he said laying his head on the counter trying not to spill his guts, "W-what the heck did you give me Jack? he said slipping off the bar stool though he caught himself before hitting the deck. Surely by now, everyone knew Damian was the definition of light weight. YOu could hear chuckles in the background as Damian lost his land legs. "Hehe" the boy said letting out a kiddish chuckle. "Your on old man!" he said wobbling back into the chair before chugging the beer though not as fast as Jack. As the mug hit the table with a quarter left Damian fell flat on his back off the barstool. As he looked up at the ceiling it seemed as though the room was spinning. Damian just chuckled away like an idiot. The boy pushed himself up the ground getting into an upright position as he looked at the saboteur infront of him. "hehe, he uhh wasn't there haha something important we had to do" he said referring to the S-Class trial announcment. The boy shrugged the thought off. "Hey crazy, lets go enjoy the festival...why the hell are we cooped inside for!" Damian said getting up and slamming his hand on the counter abruptly. He hit it with enough force that his beer mug jumped up.

"Lets have some fun" he said before turning and trying to find the exit. He took 5 steps before taking a hard left slamming into a table. You could hear the guild mates roaring with laughter making a ruckus, good thing Master Delsin was to busy to see what was going on. Everyone would most likely have been punished for whats going on. Damian waved his hand saying he was all right, the boy pushed off the table and made way towards the Guild entrance. He stopped posting up an arm on the door and turning around to Jack.

"You better not wuss out on me early!" he said returning the mans words.

Beaming brightly, Cyril gave a hearty chuckle at the small joke Mis made... as bad as it was, but now he just couldn't resist. Pressing one of his hands against where his arm was hit, he feigned being wounded as his smile dissolved just a bit; it almost looked like he was going to pout. Turning his head down to the ground, he stared solemnly into the grass.

"Aw don't need t'thread on me like that, I was working on magic and blade since the trials are comin' up, but nooooow," suddenly, he perked up with a glint in his eye and a smile that would put the Cheshire Cat to shame. Removing his hand from his arm, he pressed a singular index finger, playfully tilting his head to the side. "Now I'm just trying to work my charm on a very lovely shield-maiden and mirror mirror on the wall showing the fairest maiden of them all!~" He gave Illedrith and Saeko both a wink before twirling to address the Valkyrie; the Maiden of War.

Bending over he eyed her up and down, inspecting almost every inch of her like a voyeur. Yup, she was in tip top condition for the S-Class trials. Swiftly shoving his hand into his pocket, the "Playboy" balled up his fist, squeezing it tightly as he continued smiling at the woman. "Alex, are you asking Saeko and I on a date," Cyril mused, reeling back upwards as he placed a finger on his lips, tapping it as he kept his eyes firmly peeled on the silver lady.

"My my, how scandalous," he giggled, raising his hand to obscure his mouth in the most overblown fashion as possible, acting with faux surprise that caused a few other Harpy's that were heading out to roll their eyes at this whole situation... yes, he did notice.

Instantly, he snapped an pointed a finger gun at Alexandria, brandishing his pearly whites. "Heheh, jus' joshin' ya, but aye, I believe we will join ya... considering Illedrith invited us beforehand; how could we just say no?" He chuckled, placing two hands on the back of his head as he stretched just a bit, staring up at the guild house, studying as much of the structures intricacies as he could before they departed.

"Seven years, seven years... so much time has passed..." Simply put, he just smiled and nodded, reminiscing on that fond memory... think he had a couple of games dedicated to him, one of which involved... puncturing an effigy of him in uncomfortable places or throwing darts at his face.

... yeeeeeaaaah, wrong memories.

A small shiver shot up Cyril's spine at the thoughts, shaking his head and perishing it in favor of one of his more... positive games that were based on some of his traps. That was pretty entertaining to watch people get all tangled up from time to time, eheheh...

Regardless, he was shook out of his trance as Illedrith agreed with the duo over heading into town before it got too late, Cyril giving a swift nod, giving a small pirouette before pointing in the direction of the town.

"Well then what are we waitin' for? The festival trials await!"

---

Surprisingly, for the most part, Cyril was rather quiet during the trip. His attention always seemed to be diverted somewhere else, eyes moderately glazed over; it looked like he was there, yet he seemed somewhat detached from reality for the most part. Any spurs that brought him back would result in a bit of small talk and flirting if you weren't a cinnamon bun before returning to that utterly lost state.

Eventually, his quiet visage faded away for the most part as they approached the town and made their way towards the town hall. That was when Cyril began to get a bit... randy when taking in some of the eye candy around the center... or rather, most women he could get to whilst staying close to the group.

... he was able to get a couple of ladies to blush and giggle, whilst the more negative reactions involved him gaining a tender red jaw. He was used to the sting, so it really didn't bother him at all... rather, his eyes were pasted to certain members of both guilds, Harpy's and Golem's alike. Most of them seemed to be A-Class mage's from what he could recall, causing him to shift around uncomfortably from time to time at some unknown thoughts.

Regardless, he ended up gravitating towards the stalls with food, letting the smells of sweetened pastries to grilled, tender meats invade and take over his nostrils. While it probably wouldn't hurt to grab a bite, Cyril didn't feel that hungry...

... and then the sweet little cinnamon of the group spoke up!~

Cyril perked up as soon as he barely managed to hear her, sending a large grin to her as he looked down at the youngest member of their group. Placing a finger on his lip, he tapped it for a bit as he scanned the area before eventually snapping his fingers, and pointing at one of the stand.

"Hey, hey, hey, whadabout' some Harlequin Crème Brûlée," he suddenly announced, looking down at Ceri. "From what I know, the flavoring and what they garish it with are usually random unless you specify whatcha' want on it! You should totally give it a shot; you gals too if you haven't had a taste!"

Instantly he looked up at the other three, gauging whether or not they would indulge in this, smiling as he patiently awaited their responses.

Alexandria blinked slowly at Cyril as he made his statement. She offered no words for a few moments before she uttered one simple phrase that would probably do great harm to Cyril's ego. "No." The brief phrase shattered the silence for a few moments. But the previous silence fell again until Illedrith and the others spoke. As the group began to walk Alexandria unfolded her arms from behind her back and motioned for Cyril to walk with the group before speaking again. "Coming along, Cyril?" With that, Alexandria dropped her arms to her sides and began to walk along with Illedrith, Ceri, and Saeko. Alexandria rested her right hand gently upon the pommel of her sword as she walked. Alexandria didn't chatter much with the rest of the group, instead preferring to remain silent and remain on guard encase anyone or anything wanted to cause trouble.

When the group arrived to town, Alexandria declined the offer that Cyril made and bid them farewell for a while to roam on her own for a bit, but promised that she would rejoin them when the announcement started. With that, Alexandria parted ways from the group with a quick bow. Alexandria walked gently among the stalls and stands set up around the area, she bought herself a gyro to munch on as she walked and looked around. The mixture of beef, lettuce, and other toppings was pleasant to the tastebuds, and the flatbread was fluffy and complemented the rest of the ingredients well. Alexandria continued to roam about the event while she munched on her food, and when she was finished she tossed the wrapper from the gyro into a trash can.

With that done, Alexandria continued to wander for a bit before she spotted a tea stand. Smiling to herself, she walked over and placed and order for a small cup of sweet tea. Tanking the older man who was working at the stall when he handed her the cup and saucer, Alexandria sat at a table to sip at her tea daintily as she waited on time to pass. Perhaps some of her guildmates would wander by? It was a known joke that the trick to getting Alexandria's attention was with tea due to the frequency that she drank the amber liquid. Regardless, Alexandria sipped at her tea gently, and smiled gently to herself as she relaxed at the table near the tea stand.

The Harpy's Wing guildmistress soared through the air at the speed of a slow pigeon, gliding gracefully over the lake and the buildings at the edge of town on a trajectory straight for the town square. She'd waited as long as she possibly could for Eloise to bring her two A-class mages to the guild hall, but she couldn't afford to wait any longer or she'd be late. She'd waited so long, in fact, that she no longer had time to walk to the town center, and would need to make a more dramatic entrance. Climbing to the top of the Nest, she removed her excess weights and then took a running jump off the highest platform, her well-practiced jump taking her on a perfect trajectory into the square.

As she passed over the far edge of the lake, she could see that Eloise had managed to find both of her quarries, and was on her way back with them. Smiling to herself, Arianna whistled loudly and then called down to them.

"Hellooo down there my precious children! Make your way to the square or you'll be laaaate~"

She had no time for any more conversation before her speed took her out of earshot of the group. Turning her face forward once more, she changed her position so her clothes would catch more of the wind, subtly changing her flight path and slowing her down, and a few seconds later she floated gently down from the sky and onto the platform in the middle of the square. Ever one to make use of a good landing, she did a flourish and posed, with a few confused townsfolk applauding and many of the Harpies in the square chuckling at her antics, a couple of them even quickly drawing signs to rate the landing. Taking her assigned place on the stage, she waited for Delsin to turn up so they could commence the proceedings.

---

Delsin finished the final form out of his In tray with one last signature, stamping it with the guild seal just as his door flew open and Vega made a sudden entrance. This was no surprise to Delsin, who had felt him coming from ages away through his contact with the building; Vega made such a commotion that he'd known he was here the second he entered the building from the way that people moved out of the way of his footsteps on the stone. Quickly surmising that he must have made an escape from his pursuers somehow to be returning himself, but had enough of an altercation for them to tell him that Delsin needed him, Delsin ignored Vega's questions, rising to his feet as the young man flopped into his visitors chair.

"I see you managed to escape Angela's clutches, but then decided to come here on your own? Impressive. It'll also save you from the worst of her ire I should think. In any case, walk with me, we need to move or I'll be late."

Stepping around his desk, Delsin picked up his coat and gear and walked out of the room. Turning his head slightly, he spoke to Vega as he walked.

"I don't need your approval or happiness when it comes to the S-Class trials, but you most certainly will want the results of them one way or another. S-Class missions will allow you to take your...particular...brand of insanity elsewhere on the continent, where you'll be well outside the prying eyes of your much beloved Angela. You'll hear soon enough what the tasks will entail, but I am telling you in advance that you will only be able to participate if you are able to put together a team, which you have thus far shown absolutely no desire in doing. I am, surprisingly though it might seem, willing to help you out here by designating you as one of the team leaders, but you have to find people to fill your team yourself."

As he wandered down through the halls on the swiftest route to the town square, Delsin noticed something amiss in the clamor of footsteps on the ground near the bar. Changing course on a brief detour, he pushed open the door onto a thoroughly predictable sight. Damian taking on Jack in a drinking contest? What was the idiot thinking. He didn't even seem to have properly finished more than one proper drink before being apparently drunk out of his mind. Sighing quietly, Delsin shook his head before shouting over the ruckus.

"Alright you lot, get out of here! The announcement starts the moment I get to the square, and it's a festival day, what the hell are you all doing inside? Come on, clear out, clear out!"

There was a fair bit of quiet grumbling from the bar regulars, but most of them diligently meandered out the door and off into town. Striding across the room, Delsin put an arm under Damian's to steady him before the young lad fell over. Speaking to Jack over his shoulder, Delsin supported Damian in his efforts to head out into town.

"I won't say you should know better, since I assume this was at least 50% Damian's fault, but please do try not to kill your fellow guildmates with alcohol poisoning. If you're coming to the announcement, which you should be, your punishment is to take care of this lightweight while he's out and about."

- - - - - - - - - -

After a quick walk across two blocks, rounding up any straggling Golems on his way, Delsin arrived at the town square just in time to see Ria float serenely out of the sky and land in a crowd-pleasing manner. Being right underneath her path of descent, Delsin blushed slightly and averted his eyes as she passed overhead; he'd often suggested she should avoid dresses if she was planning on hurtling through the air, but she just laughed and made comments about how he didn't understand the importance of controllable flight surfaces (which, to be fair, he didn't).

Climbing the steps to the top of the platform, Delsin smiled at Ria and held up both hands with all fingers outstretched to indicate he thought her landing was a 10/10.

"Are you ready to begin?"

"Whenever you are, Del! Just give the word and we'll begin."

"Alright then, let's start."

With that, a piercing whistle echoed across the square, cutting through all the noise and cluttered activities. Stepping forward to the front of the stage, Arianna amplified her voice so it carried easily to all corners of the square, and down the laneways nearby.

"Ladies aaaand Gentlemen! May I have your full attention please? The moment you've all been waiting for has arrived, and it's now time to announce the details of this year's S-Class trial! As I'm sure most of you have heard by now, for the first time the Harpy's Wing and Golem's Hand guilds will be joining together to combine their S-Class trials into one large event. There will be two distinct phases in the event: a Qualifying Stage, and a Proving Stage. A quick reminder for those of you unaware, any combat between guild members of either guild not specifically approved as training during the Qualifying Stage will find both participants disqualified from the proceedings, unless blame can very clearly be shown. With that out of the way, I shall now hand over to Delsin to explain the events themselves!"

"Most of you who have witnessed our S-Class trials before will have come here expecting a one-day long event. A big fight, or a test of skills. You shall get this, but not today! For this event, Guildmistress Arianna and I have decided to do something a little more adventurous than usual. The first event, henceforth referred to as the Qualifying Stage, will be a group event. Anyone wishing to participate in the Proving Stage which follows it will need to get themselves accepted into a team, led by one of a few approved leaders whose names will be announced at the end of the proceedings. You are, for the purposes of this exercise, not restricted to only joining with groups led by a member of your own guild, though I imagine that the majority will still find yourself in teams comprised entirely of your own guild."

"Once you have been placed in a team, the test will begin. Arianna and I have sought approval for the teams to have a small selection of what were previously S-Class jobs put before them. These will, I remind you, be very dangerous missions, and will not be for the faint of heart. You will be graded on your results in the job, and while failure to complete the job will not necessarily disqualify you from being able to progress to the next stage if you still performed admirably, it will of course look bad on your record. Due to the dangers of these missions, and your collective inexperience in dealing with jobs of this caliber, the teams will be only approved for the missions if they are oversized, so you will certainly be working with people you're not used to dealing with. Finally, it also goes without saying that any profits made on job completion will need to be split evenly among your team if a unilateral decision cannot be agreed upon about how to otherwise split it. Any questions about this event can be individually adressed to myself or Guildmistress Arianna at a later time."

"Finally, as Delsin mentioned, the final event will be a tournament. To be set on a date to be announced at a later date, a further festival day - funded and run by both guilds - will be organized, and a series of fights will take place, with public involvement deciding what the matchups will be, and what environmental effects might be in play for each fight. With that sorted, enjoy the rest of the day my darlings! Don't get too out of hand and set the poor mayor's house on fire again like last year, he does such a good job after all, and doesn't deserve this chaos outside his bedroom window every year. Best wishes to you all this year!"

---

Oh the sights! The smells and sensations of Luna Crescente's famous festival days! Standing tall among the flowing crowd, Illedrith basked in the gazes thrown her way, her ever-present travelling armor catching the light and making her glow brightly in the wonderful afternoon sun. With her group of precious munchkins dispersing slightly to look at the sights and sounds, Illedrith had just been going along one side of the makeshift market streets, getting more and more excited as she bought more and more of the fantastic looking food and drink that filled the stalls around the outside of the square. This came to a head when Cyril made a suggestion for a certain kind of desert that Illedrith hadn't tried, and in the process of excitedly turning around she almost cleaned up a passerby with her halberd (which she was holding under her arm in order to use it as a plate to hold the three sundaes she'd purchased at the last stall).

Apologizing profusely to the man who was concerned that he almost got bisected by a plate of icecreams, Illedrith wandered over to see what this new delicacy was just as Ria flew overhead. Checking the clock set above the stage, it was clear the announcement would be happening soon.

"Alright, gather up my dears, they'll be starting soon. Might as well get front row seats for the announcement. Ceri, you're welcome to get on my shoulders if you want a better view, we wouldn't want you getting trampled in the crowd. And Cyril, if you agree to carry my sundaes and halberd, you can have one of your choice."