James listened to his student and watched him as he thought, he himself musing over it. As he had feared when they'd squared off with the woman, her words had managed to break through to him, though to his credit, it took much longer than the paladin had anticipated. Often times, an attack against ones inner most feelings was felt quickly and strongest. And while it had taken time, it would seem he finally felt it's sting, and while he wasn't sure he could answer the first, the second, well..."That's because you care for her far beyond that of a guild mate, Cody. To use a word you already have, you're in love with her."

[color=f7976a][/color]


"Well, I'm glad to see that everyone around here is so friendly to newcomers," Percival said laughing slightly. "It's very nice to meet you all." he says taking a bow to them. "I'm actually looking for a job right now, so maybe I can scrounge one up. Thanks again for all your help, Rose." he said before waving to them and walking over to the job board.
"That was a weird exit even for you." Elena said within his mind. He kept his mouth shut and ignored her.
"Silent treatment, eh?" she asked. He then spotted a job that caught his eye. A rogue mage in the Desert?
"A rogue mage killed everyone in his entire guild?! Unforgivable. We must seek justice for his crimes at once." Percival said with a fire in his eye. He went to run directly out of the guild, but found his legs wouldn't move.
"Hold it! As a dark wizard myself, I can tell you that neither of us are equipped to deal with a sand mage that killed his own guild and guild master." Elena chided him.
"But I've taken on plenty of other dark wizards in the past!" Percival loudly whispered to himself.
"Name three. I don't count."
Percival thought for a moment, thinking of the ones that he had fought, and how he had defeated them.
"Oh! There was the Shadow guy that could steal your shadow and make you his puppet."
"Where did you fight him?"
"In a clearing in the middle of the day so that his shadow couldn't reach me."
"Mhm, who else?"
"There was this woman that made whoever she touched morbidly obese to stay skinny."
"You wear full armor against her?"
"Yeah." Percival replied, hanging his head.
"One more." Elena reminded him.
"Yeah, this guy with a lacrima in his chest. He used it to negate people's magic and send it back at them."
"That hardly sounds evil."
"He was using it to gain all the slayer magic he could find and use it to destroy the Magic Council."
"Oh, that sounds promising. How'd you deal with him?
"He blew up after absorbing too much magic. At least, I think he's gone." Percival scratched the back of his head.
"Anything else I should know?"
"Well, his sword was made of some super dragon's fang or something and I couldn't find it after so-
"So he's not dead?!" she shouted in his head.
"Maybe? I mean, I haven't killed any of them, they just gave up their evil ways."
"I'm stuck with a 'Dark Wizard Hunter' that hasn't killed anyone?"
Percival looked for an out to get away from the subject. He spotted another job, this one as a temporary Librarian.
"How about this job? Its at a library. We might find something about our issue!" He said excitedly, hoping she would stop with her Spanish Inquisition. He hadn't expected such a thing from her. Then again, no one does.
"Boring. There's no chatter there, nothing to do, we just be paid to sit around and check books in all day."
"But we kinda need the money."
"Move over, let me pick." She said, taking over control once again.
"Ooh, Wine Delivery," Elena's voice purred from Percival's throat. "That sounds right up my alley. Then afterwards we can get plastered."
"No! No. We deliver, we get paid, then leave. You can party when we are no longer in the same body." Percival interjected, louder than he meant to.
"But we're agreed?" she asked him aloud.
Percival sighed heavily.
"Yes."
"Great! I have just the outfit." she said giddily, making them hop up and down as they exited the guild.

@MarshiestMallow@LightningMaiden@Joshua Tamashii

Ferrin nooded at Sasha’s response, slightly disappointed that she seemed take the wisecrack seriously.

Then Cecilia spoke up and Ferrin immediately stilled then smiled guilelessly at the cat. “Do I?” He asked, his mannerish suddenly starkly different. The fact that it was a cat talking barely registered as a blip on his weirdness scale. He went from low-key nervous to completely relaxed disturbingly quickly.

He shifted his smile, which also shifted to a more charming look, to Amaya as she hurriedly apologized. Althugh his smile faltered slightly at the mention of her being a dragonslayer, it recovered quickly. “It is quite all right, Amaya Van Isis.” He said, rolling her name around. “You have quite the lovely name.” He complemented her. “Although it is not half as lovely as you, yourself.” He paused the continued, still wearing that smile as a mask. “You said you are a dragonslayer yes? I admit, I am not fond of your kind. I have had bad experiences with them before. But I am curious to know more. What element do you specialize in? Did you actually learn it from a dragon? I’ve never seen one before, but I have always admired the power they reportedly wield.”

Bad memories came back. A laughing blood-stained figure. Death amd blood everywhere. It seemed like he just couldn’t escape that particular ghost. Which made sense, he supposed but he was getting sick of that insictive cringe he felt whenever the memory reared it’s ugly head. However Ferrin let none of his discomfort show. His control over himself was iron and this girl definitely didn’t deserve his suspicion and distrust.

Amaya blushed at the compliment of her name and look causing her shyness to show "uh t-t-thankyou."She replied before listening to him explain how he wasn't a fan of his kind but he did seem curious about what kind of dragonslayer she was and if she learned from her dragon or not. "I am the Ice dragonslayer, me and zeoram have sibling dragons and learned from them back home around MT Hoboken. I can heal, get armor kind of like sash here and ice based attacks like her and Joshua's sword. "She explained "Plus I really didn't wish to meet my dragon the way I did...Nor did she wish to teach me the magic I know now." She replied pulling some of her bangs behind her ears as her ice blue eyes watched him closely. Something didn't seem right. She has seen a lot of painted on smiles in her time. Seems so kind and sweet only to actually be hiding a dark monster behind it. Something was telling her not to trust this Fenir but she was going to ignore her gut for now cause Sasha trust him and so did the rest of the guild so she could trust him right?

She listened to him admit he had bad memories of her kind "How can one not...me and the other two really shouldn't show our magic as it is considered a bad magic because of the slayers and dragons of the past...I been ran out of towns, hated, hunted, nearly killed several times by those who either fear my dragon or hated it...but I never held it against anyone cause the past can hurt and reflect who we are today...mom would make my third parent to have left or abandon me...So, I understand how hatred can shape one to not trust. I accept if you don't like me...I can't speak for the jade or poison slayer though. "She replied

@MarshiestMallow
“Ex..ceeds?” Tilting her head, Jasmine pondered briefly what this cat-like creature had to do with excelling, surpassing or a greater number than expected. Strange indeed. But the creature was absolutely adorable! If it didn’t seem so hostile, Jasmine wanted to give it a hug.
But with Penny seeming to be in mood for taking smack from the Exceed, the blonde glanced from from the older girl to the cat back to the older girl. She hoped they wouldn’t fight….

“H-how disrespectful human! Your master- no, the master of all creation- demanded you get on your knees so you better fucking do it!” Now Rajah was mad. This red head seemed to think that she was above her! She would show this upstart the status quo, but first…
“There’s only one job you need to, and that’s shower me in tributes and worship. Everything else is just a waste of your time. I am all your pointless lives need!” With a laugh and look so smug it beggared belief Rajah pointed directly at Penny and Jasmine. Though she was momentarily distracted by Iggy’s arrival, he was just in time!

“Ah perfect timing Sir Ignatius! I was just about to smite this girl, but I shall allow you to do so in my place instead. That should give the girl a chance, how merciful am I? Bwahahahaha!” Somehow, her laugh got even more smug and uppity. How it was possible, no one could ever work out given a thousand years.

Jasmine wasn’t even scared anymore at this point, just...confused. Really, really confused. What was this ‘Rajah’s problem with them? They were here to help the poor townsfolk after all!
“Oh-oh really, if you’re so ‘all-powerful’ then w-why didn’t you stop the fish from terrorising the town?!” Jasmine’s words did the trick, in making Rajah shut up that is. The Exceed’s laught stopping abruptly. Even if Rajah was as she claimed, Jasmine would worship this adorably vile creature. Even if she was ‘smited’ for it.

Even though she wasn’t sure if she could control her magic or not yet, seeing as she had yet to test it since the guild hall incident, she stepped out in front of Penny and prepared to encase the two flying cats in water.
“I-I-I won’t let you hurt Penny! Please calm down!” Jasmine didn’t want to fight, nor did she know if she could control her magic so hopefully this exceed would listen to reason. If not, then to prevent violence she hoped she could control her Sphere spell.

Rajah was shocked at the fact that the girl who had just been sheltering behind Penny till this point was suddenly telling her, a divine being far beyond their understanding, off! So she dared rebel against her as well! Then so be it.
“Kah, another upstart. Sir Ignatius, deal with this one as well. I know it isn’t fair, two verus one, but we need to give them at least some slim hope of beating my champion.” Where she had this supreme confidence in her delusions was anyone’s guess.

@Lunarlord34@LightningMaiden@Crimson Raven

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Sasha sighed softly, watching Ferrin and Amaya and listened to their conversation. ”There are no bad magics… its the way people use them that make them bad.” She said softly, before she drew a deep breath. ”Lets go.” There was no point in lingering, on dragging this out any longer than it had to be. The island would either let them on or it wouldn’t. She paused a moment, looking down at one of the ships boats before she started down the provided ladder.

She stared at the island, wanting to soothe the tormented magic and the torrent of bad feelings she was getting from it. Lazarus joined her, and she knew that he would not leave her side unless it was dire. She didn’t mind. She anticipated being in the thick of things, in any case. Which is where he would wish to be.

She looked back up at the ship, raising a brow. ”Well, come on.”

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Penny sighed heavily as she watched the small, angry little creature. She had no idea what she could do for the fiery exceed. She knew the exceed couldn’t really hurt her, but she’d rather not risk it. ”You’re going to get yourself hurt.” She said, ”I give respect where respect is earned, and not where someone demands it. If you have to demand it, you don’t deserve it.” She shook her head, contemplating what to do.

The angry little beast appeared to be trying to get the other exceed to do its dirty work. Reaching up to rub at her temples, Penny muttered under her breath. As jasmine stepped out in front of her, Penny reached out to stop her, not wanting her to get hurt. More annoyed than anything else, Penny hurried went through her options. Light the cats up? Kick their butts? Or put them to sleep? She wasn’t entirely too sure she could do that, without putting Jasmine to sleep. She mused on that a moment, before she decided that she had to risk it. She could always rouse Jasmine if she put her to sleep.

She brought to mind the song that she needed, reaching out to Jasmine to bring her closer before she allowed the song to start. The song was soft, calming and quite clearly designed to be a lullaby. It was beautiful and warm, and Penny kept it up, watching the exceeds with wariness.

((Ignore this, will edit back))

Ferrin tilted his head, studying the dragonslayer more closely as Sasha spoke. Her sad, brief tale didn't surprise him, but he did empathize. Everyone has a Story to tell. He though somberly. He was considering what to say next when Sasha gave the call to prepare to head for the island. Ferrin looked up to see that the island was indeed very close.

And what an oddly shaped island it was. At first he didn't quite understand what he was seeing. It looked like two islands stacked on top of each other. But Ferrin's perspective changed as he realized what he was looking at. "Stars, it's a tree." He breathed quietly in awe. "The Tenrou Tree. I've never seen it's like in person before... It was a tree so massive, it's uppermost branches formed a solid layer that somehow rock and dirt had accumulated on, becoming it's own island in the sky, held up by the massive, twisted, knarled, majestic truck of the tree. Here was something that remained from the past. Something that connected past, present, and future, simply by existing. This same tree was the one that watched over Guildmaster Mavis, the same on that generations of wizards from Fairy Tail must have laid eye on through many centuries.

And the island was the place where it all began.

He turned to Amaya. "May we continue this conversation later? It seems that Sasha is in a hurry to disembark, which I'm sure you, as a motion-sick-prone-slayer would appreciate." He flashed her a small grin and stood to the side, gallantly gesturing with his claw-like metal hand for her to go before him. "Ladies first." He said, acting the part of the chivalrous gentleman.

Amaya heard Sasha speaking of them finally making it to the island as she looked towards the massive island "I only read and heard stories of this island..."She replied gently allowing herself to watch in awe. It really was like a dream coming true...It was literally Tenruo Island, the home of Fairy tail and the power that guild held. She wished she could put into words how she felt and wish she could tell the old priest that she got to see this amazing site.

She watched Sasha head down to the boat before looking over listening to Ferrin as she nodded looking over her shoulder at Cecilia "Here we go Cece."She said happily to her Exceed before she lifted from where she was hovering before Cecilia flew them over the edge hovering above the water next to the boat "Lets get going everyone!" She called just incase anyone didn't hear Sasha.

Amaya's heart was racing along with her mind mostly about the possibility Aurora was here...If that dragon was here, she had a lot of explaining to leaving Amaya like so many before her.

@Lunarlord34
ENMA

Enma chuckled and said with a faux-wistfulness,"Ah my entrance test. Feels like it was forever ago, but it really was only a few months hasn't it?" The oni rubbed his chin as if he was running his fingers through a non-existent beard, reminiscing when he had taken his entrance test. Oh boy now that was an interesting time. "My matches were kinda, well, rough. Nearly broke someone's ribs and the other got a bloody gash in her shoulder. Now, fighting Owen, that was a close fight," he said with a click of his tongue. Man that was a wild time. It was the first time he had a serious fight with anyone outside his home besides Nolan.

"I didn't realize at the time because I did not understand his accent, but he made a bet if I could cut the piece of straw in his mouth I'd win, but if he'd cut my ponytail off, I'd lose. I don't think I need to tell you how it went," Enma said with the biggest of smirks that told her everything though it then turned into a look of puzzlement when he heard that she did not take the test. He would have asked, but she cleared it up when she mentioned the whole undead debacle. "Ah right, that mess." Images of being trapped in a hole, fighting off massive cockroaches flashed into his head. That was not a fun time.

Enma saw how nervous she got when mentioning her battle with Riona and pat her head. "It happens, you get too into it and do something you shouldn't have. Lesson learned and something to keep in mind." He was not going to preach to her how she should have been in control and anything like that. It would have been hypocritical of him considering that he was more or less a walking force of nature whenever he fought anything.

There was one thing that he did say though. "Keep that fire for your enemies and rivals. Find someone that you can really let loose with."

@MarshiestMallow
ZEV

"Ah, I see. It must be rough for you two to be in different guilds, being twins I mean. Do you guys keep in touch?" He glanced at the twins and at the chatty spirit, not exactly sure what to say to them either. Sure he kept tabs of everyone, but who wants to hear someone rattle off about their life from someone else's mouth? First off, that is creepy and second of all, why would he? Oh wait, there was something that he could ask about!

"So, you two are both celestial mages? Funny, twins in both appearance and in magic."

@hatakekuro
Wait, he had to do three fights? That's unfair. How come she didn't have to fight three people?! This was discrimination of the worst kind. Discrimination against her. But it sounded like the fights were also reasonably unfair to his opponents as well, it seemed he was certainly too strong for the first two while the third one....he didn't win the fight per say, but seemed to win a wager instead which resulted in him winning the fight. Though she had no idea who Owen was, she made a note to try and fight him if given the chance.

"Oi." She didn't seem particularly happy when he patted her head. It was surprising, not something she expected the Oni to do. But what did she look like? A five-year-old needing reassurance from her father? Well, she didn't try to stop him anyway. He had muscles bigger than her like she could overpower or stop him from doing it. Well, bar from knocking his lights out. Which, considering the trouble she was already in, was probably not the wisest move.

His words were surprising, to be honest. Half of her expected him to also scold her for not keeping her power in check, the other half was just surprised because he didn't seem like he was capable of giving such sage-like advice. Or look like it anyway. Shouldn't judge a book by its cover, huh?
"Except I keep repeating the mistake..." She murmured softly, downcast. Because of her carelessness, Harper... Riona... they got hurt badly. One by her own hand, the other because she was reckless. Let alone everyone else she had hurt, especially...
His next little bit of advice snapped her out of her thoughts. Find someone to really let loose on? She wasn't sure how that would help her control since that sounded like the opposite, but there were very few she could go all out on without hurting them badly...
"Hah...I've tried. No one has been able to keep pace, not for long. It always ends the same." Everyone she had fought all ended up the same, burnt and beaten. If they were lucky, barely alive. Well, bar a couple of specific individuals...

"Every time I think I have a handle, it snaps off and things spiral out of control. Or I just make a stupid decision. Or I don't pay enough attention. Or-" She stopped herself midway. She could've just kept going on how she just kept repeating history, but then she would've been here forever. Honestly, she never changed. Sometimes she wondered why she bothered trying, but that man's words kept echoing and bothering her to no end.
"..It seems we're here." Thank god for that. That talk was just getting her down when she should be feeling up. There were fights to be fought after all! She could feel the tangible malice in the air, growing ever thicker with ethernano by the minute. Something was definitely off about this place.
"...Do you think I could launch myself towards the Island?" She really didn't want to be in such a tiny little boat while the sea was getting churned up by tremors from the Island. Just being tipped a little off-balance and they would end up in the ocean...

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@Zarkun
Cody froze in his tracks at James' words. Love? Love?
The first thing that came to mind was instant denial. No, no, no. This couldn't be love. He barely knew anything about her, well besides what he believed everyone in the guild knew about her from their talk when they first met. He hadn't seen much of her after the Grand Magic Games as well, busy with James' training and maybe a little of trying to avoid her. Wait...why was he trying to avoid her anyway? Gah, his brain hurt from this mess he had found himself in. Memories and words just continuously looping over and over again his mind.
"You think...this is love?" Cody sounded unsure, and he was. He couldn't really say he had experienced 'love' before so maybe this was? James seemed to think so anyway.
"This just confuses me further..." Rubbing his temples, he shook his head as he began walking again. Maybe this wasn't the time nor place for this kind of talk, but he needed to get it off his mind otherwise it will continue to distract him "If this is love...then what do I do?"

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@MarshiestMallow
"Oh? You're threatening me, your god?! You have some nerve. Deal with them both already Sir Ignatius, my patience has worn out with these two." Bah, this girl knew nothing. She didn't need to earn anyone's respect, it all belonged to her anyway. But if she didn't wish to show her the devotion she thought she deserved, then who needed such a useless apostle? She would make an example of these two!

Jasmine felt Penny's hand on, pulling her back slightly. To prevent herself from falling backwards, she stepped back with the pull and gave Penny a momentarily confused look. Though it didn't take long for the girl to realise what she was about to do. Especially once the song started, she felt her body suddenly become what felt like ten times it's mass. Of course it hadn't, but the sudden fatigue setting in from the spell made her feel so. It was so warm and soothing, very similar to the song she had sung her during their carriage ride over. Battling to keep her eyes open, she felt a rush of....something flow through her. What was this feeling? Magic?

Rajah cocked her head slightly at Penny's sudden breaking into song. What next, she was going to start dancing as well? If she thought that such simple entertainment would spare them she was dead wr-
The song had barely started and the young exceed had already smacked facefirst into the ground. Having fallen asleep almost instantly. It was kinda pathetic really, especially for someone who was bragging to be some sort of god. Even Jasmine had to feel a pang of pity for the poor exceed, no matter how rude she had been just moments before.

Since it looked like the ship couldn't, or wouldn't, get any closer to the island they were going to have to row themselves the rest of the way. Sasha being pretty much in charge of the whole expedition, when she headed down to the boat and goaded them to follow Ariel glanced around for a second before stepping over and going down the ladder as well. "I'll follow your lead."

Planting her feet on the row boat she realized that the smaller vessel moved quite a bit differently. Wobbling for a moment she steadied herself and then took a seat. "Getting into this boat and nearly going to the island, I'm kind of nervous. This place feels weird."

Despite himself, he grinned a little at the young woman's exuberance as she and her cat flew after Sasha. It was a genuine grin of pure amusement. Something he had thought he had forgotten to do. Left alone at the ship's bow, Ferrin turned his gaze back to the island and leaned on the wooden railing of the ship. In truth, he didn't quite understand how he felt. His circumstances were so bizarre that the enormity of it eluded description. His emotions were a storm of things that he couldn't quite put a name to. He was nearly two centuries after his time, staring at the island that started the guild that took in a talented but incorrigible miscreant orphan like him, gave him a family, friends, somewhere to belong and turned him into someone he could be proud of. That very same guild had gone down in legend. The people he had known, talked with, laughed with, and fought with were famous the world over.

And all very much dead.

But yet...looking at the island, he didn't feel anything in particular. Should he? It was hot. The water was beautiful. The island looked like something out of a postcard. "Wish you where here!" it would say. He could see it now, he'd send it back to Ashe with some plants and flowers. She likes strange flora, especially flowers.

But he couldn't could he? He would never see her again.

He shook his head. No fatalistic thoughts. He would find a way back. That was one reason he was here.

He glanced back at the various member of the guild preparing, some with haste and others, like him, at their leisure. What reasons did they have for coming here? He knew that Sasha had her premonitions of danger, and while potential disasters were high on most people's priority list of things to stop, most people ran for cover instead of danger. So why were they here? The Dragonslayer had mentioned wanting to meet her dragon. But, obviously not all of them were dragonslayers. Like Ariel, the girl who had somehow his absorbed his magic. Thinking of anyone else holding his power made Ferrin feel uncomfortable. He had always felt that his magic was an important and inherent part of him. Aether magic had only ever been tamed by the Astra family, and even then only one in several generations inherited it. As far as he knew their bloodline were the only ones who could wield it. Even other mages who specialized in copying or stealing magic in one form or another couldn't master Aether, which essentially made him unique and he was perhaps a little too proud of that fact. So her sudden and inexplicable acquisition of it presented a mystery. He had spend several days thinking it over, and the most probable answer that occurred to him was that they were, possibly, distantly related.

Family. He could have blood family here. She could be something like his many greats grandnephew. Or well...

He winced. He drew in a shuddering breath and let it out slowly. He was not going to lose his composure here. But neither was he going to shy away from where that line of reasoning had taken him.

He--he had left behind his wife and an unborn child. In nearly two thousand years what had happened to them? They might have lived out their lives, gotten married, and had kids of their own. Did Ashelia resent his sudden disappearance? Did his child resent him for leaving? Did they wonder what happed? Did they ever try to find him?

Or did they forget about him. The man who vanished without a trace.

Stop. Tangent. He was on a tangent. Right. If Ariel was related to him by blood, would that change things? He unexpectedly felt a fierce surge of protectiveness. This mission may be dangerous, but if anyone were to harm her...

The wood railing cracked under his grip. Ibi erit Inferno reddere. There will be Hell to pay.

He lingered at the prow of the ship a little longer to compose himself. But as he was turning away, he thought he saw something out of the corner of his eye: movement on the island's shore. He turned back but saw nothing unusual. Trick of the eye? He wondered briefly. No, he trusted his instincts, and they were practically screaming that something was watching him. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up. Acting casual, he turned his back and pulled his shaving mirror out of a pocket. He palmed it and held it out at waist height, careful to keep it in shadow so that the sun would not glare off it. He angled it until he was able to see the shore. He watched, tiling it back and forth but he saw nothing. The feeling quickly receded but it made Ferrin uneasy. It should be uninhabited, but someone or something is on that island. And they know we are here. Wonderful. He supposed it could have been an animal, but the gaze felt too purposeful. He pocketed the mirror and looked up. Due to his idling, he was one of the last of the wizards on board still. He glanced disdainfully at the boats and sighed. They were bloody wizards, why were they all piling into bits of floating wood to row a few hundred feet? He casually walked to the railing, and in a smooth motion, jumped overboard.

He cast a spell as he fell, landing in a crouch on the water's surface, which had abruptly solidified. He cocked his head and eyed the rowboats, noting Ariel. Keep my distance for now. He thought.

"I will walk, thanks." He proclaimed instead. He extended his Gauntlet over the water. "Aquae Solidum." In a surge of magic, the sea between him and the island suddenly became still as glass in a ruler-straight path a few feet wide. The unaffected water surged and eddied around it. "I will wait for you there." He tossed over his shoulder as he strode along at an unhurried pace.

Sure, he could have frozen the water, but this was much more impressive.

@Lunarlord34@LightningMaiden@Crimson Raven@hatakekuro

Gabriel sighed, trying to ignore Leo. The spirit was more than a little chatty, and Gabriel just didn’t know why. Part of him wished he could just shut the gate on the zodiac spirit, the other half wished that he didn’t need the spirit. And a small part of him was glad for the spirits presence. But that didn’t mean he wanted the spirit around all the time. The pompous, somewhat arrogant spirit just seemed to like to torment him, even in the littlest ways. ”We keep in touch… its not the best but we sought different things.” Gabriel said softly, looking away from Leo, the spirit was grinning. Gabriel didn’t particularly like that. Who knew what he had planned?

”We might have the same magic, but the thing with Celestial magic is that it can be completely different between users. Michael’s is more mythical. Mines more zodiac in nature.” He said, flicking a glance to Leo again who appeared suddenly sombre, transfixed by the island. He followed the spirits gaze, seeing that some of those on the ship were getting ready to depart on the ships boats towards the island.

”We should probably follow suite.”

Michael seemed to squirm slightly, his own gaze flicking towards the island. The thought of going on there was suddenly overwhelming and yet, there had to be answers there, didn’t there? He looked back to Gabriel and zev, [color=lighrgreen]”y-y-yeah… “[/color]

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Keeping an arm around Jasmine just in case the girl succumbed to her song, Penny kept her gaze on both of the exceeds, the small fiesty one seemed quite angry still, and clearly ready to destroy them. Penny had faith in her song and with relief the little exceed finally succumbed to the song. Not particularly worried that either exceed would wake- the other one sluggishly reached out to try and stop the smaller one from hitting the ground, but merely ended up falling down beside her.

Satisfied that both exceeds were out for the count, Penny ceased her song and set out a heavy sigh, looking over to Jasmine to make sure that she was alright. Satisfied that she hadn’t been affected too much by her song, Penny moved over to the exceeds, crouching down and examining them. ”they seem alright. I should have warned you, but I thought it best to get them asleep as soon as possible. We can’t leave them here.”{/color] She sighed, glancing around them, and found herself pleasantly surprised to see that the fish had all been knocked out as well.

She hadn’t planned that, but it was a nice side bonus. ”Well, thats probably the best we can do for now. They’ll stay asleep until I wake them.” She said, before looking back to Jasmine. [/color=coral]’i think we need to take the exceeds back to the guild, but we need to return to the town, let them know they are safe from the fish for now. If they want to deal with them now, they can.”



Every time the angry little exceed would get out of hand, Penny would simply put her back to sleep. It was oddly exhausting, and Penny was relieved when they reached the guild. Even then, she had to still keep the small exceed under wraps, the older and bigger Exceed seemed somewhat reasonable, although Penny was sure that that was because he was protective of the smaller one. Wondering what was going on there, if there was something happening with the two exceeds- perhaps she was his daughter? There was a thought. She hadn’t imagined exceeds breeding. Did not know it was possible on earthland.

During their journey back to the guild, the smaller exceed spent her time being carried by either Jasmine, or the bigger exceed- who Penny came to know as Ignatius. And the smaller one was called Rajah. Ignatius was easy to get along with, although he did have a little bit of a temper. Mostly whenever Penny refused to wake up Rajah.

Even as they neared the guild, Penny spoke with the red exceed, who was currently sullen. Jasmine had Rajah, and Ignatius didn’t like that. He only seemed happy whenever he was holding the little exceed, as if only he could keep her safe. ”What were you two doing? It seemed that you were waiting for us.”

”because we were.”

Penny sighed. It seemed the exceed was going to give her as little as possible. ”Why?”

”Exceeds need slayers.” Frowning, Penny pondered over those words. They needed slayers? Besides Nolan and Doltan, she didn’t know any exceeds that were paired with non-dragon slayers. Why would a Phoenix slayer need an exceed?

[color=colour]”Or?”[/color]

”Just the way it is.” Ignatius said grumpily, glancing around as if seeking out Jasmine and Rajah.

”Why us?”

Ignatius feel silent, and looked back to Penny as if not sure how to respond. He blinked slowly, and seemed perplexed that she didn’t know the answer. ”A friend suggested I might find a partner in a Phoenix slayer. I know not why Rajah wishes to pair.” he seemed troubled by that, ”But Rajah normally gets what she wants.” He fell silent, and sullen, looked away.

Penny frowned, and fell silent as well, thinking on his words. ”and the dragons?”

Ignatius seemed hesitant to say anything, ”If I tell you, will you wake Rajah up? I can reason with her… “

Not sure if she should be making deals with the exceed, Penny hesitated. ”Well, okay.”

Ignatius watched her a moment or two, a rather serious expression on his features before he nodded slowly. ”Because bad things will happen if we aren’t there. I don’t know what, its just what I have heard.”

Penny didn’t like that answer, but she didn’t pressure him. Falling silent, she let her thoughts flow. She hadn’t wanted to go to the island… she didn’t think she’d do anything good by being there. The fact remained that she was still frightened about what her magic might do. Using it like she had been wasn’t as daunting, but going to the island where there would be who knew what magic there…

Standing, she moved away from the exceed and a little way a way, her thoughts twisting knots in her stomach. Damien’s words echoed in her mind and it took all her strength not to react to them once more. Was the fear too great? And if it was, what right did she have to be an S class, let alone in a relationship with him? And Ariel… her hands clenched into fists, Penny gritted her teeth. She wanted to be able to fix things there, even if she didn’t know how. And who knew how the island would affect her?

”this is not what I wanted.” she said furiously to herself. She felt like she was being backed into a corner, and that made her angry. She had no choice- it was clear she had to go. If she didn’t and if her friends, her family, got hurt because she didn’t… she would never forgive herself.

Frustrated, she made her way over to Jasmine, and with a few muttered song lyrics, she woke the exceed up. ”Jasmine… i have to go after those going to the island… if you want to come, you can, but it will be dangerous. And I’m not sure if I can carry you the whole way, i might need to use my magic. I’m not sure what to expect.”

Ignatius followed her, the exceed relieved that Rajah had been woken, and he spoke to her. ”Rajah?”

---

---

Jamie walked across the deck, towards Jarvis and Amelia, smiling at both of them. ”Looks like we are ready to go.” She said, pleased to be moving. She reached out with casual ease, taking jarvis’s hand in hers, and reached out to give Amelia a one armed hug. ”We had best get going. I don’t know what we’ll face on the island, but I’m sure everything will be okay.”

Jarvis looked over to jamie as she approached them, more than a little bit of concern on his features which he quickly smoothed away. ”Amelia?”

---

---

Sasha looked over to Ariel, her expression serious. She nodded slowly, returning her gaze back to the island. ”It does.” she said softly, ”Its going to be hard on the island… The magic is thick and unstable- you can feel it.” She said softly, falling silent. The feeling the island was giving out… it almost felt animalistic in nature, as if a wounded animal was trying to heal, trying to fight back against something that was hurting it.

It felt wild and unpredictable and not for the first time Sasha wondered at the wisdom of going to the island. And yet what choice did they have? This was something they had to do. She’d just have hope. It was all she had at this point and the belief in her comrades. As she watched the island, for a brief moment she was sure that she saw someone, standing on the edge of the water and staring out at them. A small woman with blonde hair, in a white and pink frilly dress. And then she blinked, and the image was gone.

Sasha starred, but it was Patrick beside her that said softly ”Marvis Vermillion. She still watches over the island to this day… “ His voice was sombre, the youthful looking man watching the island as well. Sasha sighed softly, letting her gaze slip away from the island as Ferrin caused some small amount of the sea to become glass. Sighing once more, a little heavily she watched as he began to cross it. She knew she couldn’t stop him, but wished that he would wait.

But she didn’t say anything, knowing full well that wouldn’t get her anywhere. The use of such magic however caused her to frown, hoping that he wouldn’t tire himself out before they faced whatever they were going to face on the island. As their boats slowly made their way to the water, the feel of tainted and unstable magic grew stronger until Sasha was sure the hairs on her arms and back of her neck would never stand down again.

The entire feeling of it was overwhelming and making her feel sick to her stomach. She let out a few deep breaths, sure that she was going to succumb to the feeling. Whatever the island had been, it now seemed a source of darkness and hatred. And then… it was like something washed over her, taking that away and leaving a light feeling of happiness and hope. Almost as if they had crossed some threshold, and entered the protective magic of the island- or perhaps those that resided on the island, Fairy’s of old. Whatever it was, Sasha was thankful for it as the boat continued to draw nearer to the land.

Joshua had spent most of the trip simply napping whenever Amaya didn't need him. He found the rocking of the boat and the sounds of the ocean rather peaceful and also somewhat nostalgic. His original homeland had been a frozen tundra but the village he had been raised in had been by the ocean, since fishing was one of the most reliable ways for their people to get food. He had faint memories of being on a boat once or twice but they weren't very clear. Whenever Amaya did need him though, all it would take was a simple tap on the shoulder to wake him up and he would help however he could.

Once the reached the island, he immediately got in one of the boats heading to shore, taking note that Amaya would be flying ahead, something that concerned him.
"Don't get too far ahead you two." He said. He knew Amaya was eager to get on the island to see if there was any sign of the dragon that had raised her, but he hoped she would show some patience so that she didn't get in over her head.

Amelia, in the meantime, had spent the entire trip sleeping to try and get over her fever. While it had gone down one or two degrees, she still had it but otherwise seemed fine. When her father addressed her, she looked up at him.
"Am I still staying on the ship or can I come along?" She asked, her tone hopeful, as she did want to join the others and possibly be of some help to her guild for once.

Meanwhile, the guild master of Rider's Blade and his apprentice had spent the trip mostly to themselves unless otherwise approached. Once they were given the sign to get on the small boats to get to shore, they climbed into one along with anyone else who would join them, wondering what lay ahead of them

@MarshiestMallow
With the song over and Penny crouched down near the exceeds, Jasmine stumbled a little and blinked. She felt weird, and not from Penny's spell. Whatever that sensation from before was, it made her feel tired. Had she subconsciously used a spell to protect herself from the song? Or was it...
"Hmm, it seems like your body still isn't used to casting magic again just yet. In hindsight, it's not surprising." At first, the voice that suddenly appeared in her head startled her. But, much like magic, this was something she needed to get used to...again. Of course, it was Ryujin who cast the spell, Jasmine didn't know or remember how to at least.

"...Can you please give me some warning first Ryujin?" Mumbling softly, she sighed. She was appreciative of the help, but she would rather not feel so weakened all of a sudden either. When she heard Penny talking she snapped back to reality, trying her best to shake off this feeling.
"I-it's ok Penny. I'm sorry for provoking them...." That's right if she hadn't provoked the little exceed then maybe Penny wouldn't have had to use her sleep song on the creatures. Speaking of which, as Penny pointed out, around them were dozens upon dozens of those flying fish. All fast asleep as well. This was startling as neither Penny nor herself had obviously noticed them to this point....maybe that song was for the best.

"A-already?" She seemed surprised that they were returning to the guild on such notice. All because of a couple of flying cats they had just encountered? They had barely gotten here. I mean, it seemed that they had already completed their request. And it was also true that Jasmine wanted to get as far away as possible from this place. The heavy tension and fear of the place, let alone the paranoid and scary people that inhabited the town, really wore her down. They hadn't even found out what had caused the fish to act like this...
"It's wise to be cautious young one, but it's also sometimes best not to question such good fortune. You should listen to her." Nodding softly, seemingly out of nowhere to Penny as Jasmine hadn't caught onto the fact that only she could hear the dragon, Jasmine walked over and scooped up the two sleeping exceeds.
"I-if you say so Penny, i-it's your call. I was just tagging along after all." With a soft smile, she hugged the two fluffballs close to her. They were so soft and warm.

---

Whether it be out of consideration for Jasmine or not, they didn't travel the whole way by carriage. While that meant that they got back to Magnolia longer, it also meant that Jasmine wasn't going to be sick the entire way either. It also opened up more avenues for getting some magic control and training in for her newly reawakened magic. She got both tips from Ryujin and Penny, though she had yet to tell Penny of Ryujin's existence yet. So when she was talking aloud to him, having not realized she could just think back at him, Penny must've given her some concerned looks about her sanity. But considering Ryujin seemed to spend most of his time sleeping, it wasn't like it was a constant thing. Just constant enough to have a few questions marks over her sanity was all.

She also took turns with the older exceed on carrying the sleeping Rajah. She did feel a little sorry for the young exceed, basically being asleep most of the time and she was pretty angry about it too every time they woke her. But she made such a ruckus and fuss about everything, that if they hadn't the trip would be ten times longer....and a hundred times more annoying. For such a cute and adorable creature, she was one extremely angry existence.

They had finally reached the outskirts of Magnolia. For the last couple of hours, she had been mumbling and muttering seemingly to herself from Penny's perspective but had obviously been talking with Ryujin. One might think they would be talking about something serious, like her still not fully worked out memories, or her magic. But really, they were talking about...
"...How on earth do you find this creature adorable?"

"Come on...look at her. She's so cute and fluffy." Mumbling, Jasmine nuzzled against the top of Rajah's head.

"I beg to differ. May I remind you that she threatened to wipe you from existence?" With a heavy sigh, if he had a physical form he would be rubbing his temples right now. Such was the severity of a headache that threatened to form.

That's right, they had been arguing about this subject for the last 2-3 hours. Why? Well, because Jasmine wouldn't stop remarking about how adorable, fluffy and warm she was. And how much she wanted to keep her. With Ryujin trying his best to dissuade her simply based off of Rajah's terrible persona.

Luckily, they were disrupted by Penny coming over to them now. She seemed frustrated about something, which concerned Jasmine. Did they have to turn back? Hadn't they finished the request properly? Had she done something wrong? A lot of things went through her head, but it wasn't till Penny spoke that her thoughts were banished. And instead replaced by a sudden surge of fear and helplessness. Whatever was happening on the Island was of grave enough importance that several guilds had gone to deal with the menace. Penny's concern about it only adding to Jasmine's dread. Mostly that, even if she did go...what could she do?

"I-I..I don't know...I would be too much of a burden...wouldn't I?" Shivering from just the sheer fear of what could be on the Island, she shook her head furiously. No, she would be a burden. She couldn't go. She would only slow down the Phoenix Slayer, cost magic power she might need to help get there. And distract her when they got there, as she knew Penny would try and protect her. Jasmine could get her killed!

"WOULD YOU STOP DOING THAT YOU HEATHEN?!" Were the first words that erupted out of the little creature's mouth, the sudden screech hurting Jasmine's sensitive ears. With Jasmine instinctively covering them, Rajah dropped onto the ground and glared at Penny. She would make this bitch pay tenfold for putting her to sleep! (Numerous times)

"Hmph. I am ok Sir Ignatius, I worry for these two more. You're both so weak and pathetic. Of course, she's going; I've decreed it!" Jasmine looked down and blinked at Rajah. What on earth was she going on about this time?

"Dangerous? Bah, that Island will be nothing once I arrive. Damned dragons, thinking they can do as they please without my permission! I'll show them! And for that, you are needed!" She had heard everything, and she had learned of things from Iggy before they had met the two slayers. She wouldn't allow such a shameful display from her new champion! Pointing towards the blonde, Jasmine also pointed at herself with a blank look.

"M-me?"

"Yes, you. Who else would I be talking about?! Unfortunately, my powers are useless against a dragon, so to that end, I require your Slayer magic to get the task done for me! That should teach those whelps their place in the pecking order." With arrogance oozing off of each word, Rajah made her bold declaration.

"N-no way! I-I can't! I-I can't fight a d-d-dragon! I'm weak...useless...I would just get in the others way!" There were dragons on that Island?! Just the sheer thought of staring down a dragon sent shivers down her spine. There was just no way she could! Just the very thought petrified the poor girl.

"Of course you can fight a dragon! It's what your magic is for! Isn't that right, Sir Ignatius, heathen girl?" Rajah looked to the other two for support in her argument. She had honestly expected more from Slayers from what she had heard from Iggy. She had heard they were proud and ferocious warriors...not weak and cowardly mutts that ran away whenever danger reared it's ugly head.

"I'm telling you....I-I can't!"

"You are correct young one, you wouldn't stand a chance against a dragon as you are. Normally, I would be very much against the idea in fact." Ryujin's tone was soothing, though it didn't really have the intended effect. Making her feel worse and worse. She really was just baggage as she was, wasn't she? Though he hadn't quite finished. "However, who said you would be fighting alone? You'll have not only myself, but your fellow wizards by your side won't you? If the stakes are truly as high as they seem, our-no, your power will be needed."

His words made her blink a few times. Taking a few moments to sink in and digest. She was needed? She couldn't, wouldn't, believe it. She denied it with every fibre of her being. She couldn't remember a time when she wasn't weak and powerless, how could she ever help anyone? Let alone in a fight against a dragon, or multiple dragons!

"Pass your necklace to the girl. I wish to speak with Solias' daughter."

"W-what do you mean...Penny's right there Ryujin. And why my necklace?" His words once again left her puzzled. Why couldn't he talk to Penny as is? Couldn't she hear him? And wait...how did he know who Solias was? Jasmine barely knew who he was, and what she did know was whatever Penny had decided to tell her. Though Ryujin had gone silent and ignored her words. With a sigh and much reluctance, she reached behind her neck to remove the jewellery, slowly and carefully extending her hand out to Penny to take the pendant.
"Ryujin said he wanted to speak with you..."

@Joshua Tamashii@Lunarlord34
Of course the angry little Exceed burst out in fury the moment she was woken. Penny was almost tempted to just put her back to sleep, but her word was her word even if she hadn’t given Ignatius her word. The intent had been there. Penny merely schooled her expression, keeping it void of her annoyance, and simply stared at the small exceed. She knew that the exceed knew she could easily put her out, it would merely be time before the exceed actually realised that. Weary of it all, Penny was tempted to just walk away but she knew that she couldn’t. She had a duty to Jasmine, but it wasn’t just that. Jasmine was important, to her at least. So she endured the angry little creatures insults.

Finally, she leaned forward slightly, her expression a little dark as she said softly in a matter of fact tone, ”If I were weak, little pest, then you’d be weaker as you succumb to my magic quite easily.” She did not particularly like the little exceed, and didn’t understand Jasmine’s fascination with her. Turning her gaze to Jasmine, her expression softening. ”Jasmine… I wouldn’t have given you the opton to come if I didn’t think you’d be okay.” she said ”You can do things. You’re stronger than you think, Jaz.”

”Rajah… “ Ignatius sighed, and shook his head. ”How will you ever eat if you are flapping your gums like you are?”

She reached out to give the girl a gentle squeeze on her shoulder, and smiled. ”I’ll be with you.” She knew that if they were going to get there soon, they’d have to fly. While she could carry Jasmine, it would leave her tired. And she did not think the small exceed would consent to carry her, even if she could carry her weight. She glanced to Ignatius, wondering if the exceed would be content to give Jasmine a ride.

She was distracted by these thoughts by Jasmine’s words. She frowned, taking the pendant ”What?”

---

---

Jamie looked to Amelia and smiled, even as Jarvis hesitated, ”I don’t know, Amelia… “ He said, not wanting Amelia to get hurt. He didn’t want to get hurt, but there was also the fear that something might happen to the boat, and Amelia would get hurt or killed. He wanted to be able to protect her, to make sure that she was alright. The island would be dangerous… ”I want you to be safe.” he said slowly, not wanting to disappoint her or get her hopes up. [color=tan]”And the safest place is with us.”[/color=tan] He would do anything to protect his family, he would not lose any of them any time soon.

Zenoram had been a bit rattled and stuck having a conversation in his mind with Zero. After the knowledge they had gained from Jamie and the kiss on the cheek from Karn's roommate, he'd quickly been pulled down leaving their body to sink down to a sitting position on the floor.

"I don't know what their up to, but watch out Zenoram!" Zero said quickly.

"You worry too much Zero. If their anything like Karn than there was nothing wrong with that."

"But they aren't! There were intentions behind those words and the kiss. I could feel it!" Zero snarled in rebuddle.

"Intentions? What kind of intentions?" Zenoram asked softly before chuckling. "You sure you aren't just reading too much into it? You can get a little paranoid Zero." He couldn't help but laugh a little more at Zero's reaction. He was sure it was nothing.

"W-whatever. Just be careful!"

"I'm always careful." Zenoram beamed.

"Only if always suddenly means never." Zero huffed.

By the time they'd finished, the announcement that boats would be taken the rest of the way. Not only that, but Karn had become a pegasus. Zero groaned, having assumed control. "What... The... Fuck?" He huffed as he felt the full affects of the motion sickness. "Wait... From a boat to other boats? What even was the point of this first boat?"

He said before he manage a sniff at the air. "Woah... Is that... Of course..." He paused every word or two. It was so hard to keep a steady flow of though. Was that Hunter? It made sense if they wanted dragon slayers. "Karn... Don't forget anyone. Better to be tired and with friends, than stranded and alone on a boat in the sea." He added referring to what he thought might have been Mithera. He didn't say much more though since he'd not seen her. Besides, he had to go meet up with another dragon slayer. Especially since Amaya's scent was getting further away and he could only assume she'd gone off. Hopefully, she didn't get herself killed.

Zero forced himself to his feet. He had a mission in mind. Find that other bastard and try to devise a plan. He felt something bad and he knew that right now, it was better he be in control and fight through this seasickness. Even if he felt like death. Even if he felt like he'd fall flat on his face any second. "I... Gotta... Find someone." He then added to Karn as he moved along.

Hunter groaned as he heard the anchor splash into the water outside his cave of crates in the cargo hold. He knew no one would think to look for him there, especially since he was a Dragon Slayer, which was why he was hidden. The motion sickness that most Slayers got when they boarded modern transportation was a prick to his pride and one he wished he knew how to make go away. Still, as he dragged himself to his feet and stumbled out of his hiding place, he could have been stuck with something worse. "God, I swear I'm gonna find a non-boat related way off this island when we're done..." He stumbled out of the cargo hold and into the hall, heading for the stairs.

Zero stumbled across the deck with. The continued undulation of the ship was a real bitch. He growled as he continued forward until he reached the stairs. He leaned on the frame of the door and looked down. He wished he could say with certainty that he knew the scent he was following, but it was in and out. "Hunter?" He questioned with a pain groan. "You hiding bastard..." It was clear he had more he wanted to say and ask, but he was cut off by a quick retch. He wanted so bad to puke out his guts. It was like the longer he was in control, the worse he felt. This was why Zenoram handled trouble. Got he needed another way of getting around. Even so, though he wouldn't say it right off the bat, he was kind of excited to see an old friend, and maybe fight him again when all was said and done. They had fought and sparred and stuff during his time on jobs and while traveling. Zero lost more than he won, but that didn't stop him. If not for Hunter and Damian, he might not have gotten as strong as he had in this short time.

Hunter hadn't finished getting up the stairs yet when he heard a familiar voice call his name from the top of them. "Hunter?" Any joy at Zero's voice was buried beneath a driving need to get off the boat and, with many grunts of effort, the Jade Dragon Slayer forced himself up the stairs to the deck. Sure enough, the Poison Dragon Slayer was right there, looking like a mirror image, in a very metaphorical sense, of the Jade Dragon Slayer. Grunting, Hunter jerked his head towards the side of the boat.

"First, off the boat. Then, he coughed a couple times and had to force the bile back down that tried to come up before continuing, "talk." Grabbing his friends arm, he dragged him to the railing. "Uh, before we jump, you can swim, right?"

Zero groaned as the Jade Dragon Slayer spoke. He was right though. Getting off the boat had to be priority one. Still, he had to manage to muster the strength in himself to pull his arm away. "Who the... Hell..." He groaned and began to climb over the rail. "Fuck it..." He choked out. I don't think this is such a good... Zenoram began to remark prompting a growl from Zero. "Just... Go..." He said before letting himself fall overboard in to a sort of lackluster dive into the water below.

"All I'm saying is..."
"No more boats!"
"Riiiiight..." Zenoram sighed in exasperation as his other half's desperate need to escape the very notion of moving to another boat.

"I'll see you at the island!" Zero then yelled as he floated up above surface of the water and began swimming towards the island.

Hunter wasn't far behind the Poison Dragon Slayer, though his entrance to the water was somewhat showier as he recovered once he was off the boat. Still, as he surfaced and sighed in relief, Zero's declaration to meet on the shore was met by the sound of the Jade Dragon Slayer moving that way as well. Once more, he wondered why they hadn't just used a teleportation spell or lacrima to get to the island, but they were there now. "And you're not getting me back on that boat for the return trip!" He didn't care if other guild members looked at him weird, the person he was talking to knew who they were.

Upon reaching the beach, Hunter started stretching as he approached Zero. "So how'd your last job go?"

Zero couldn't help but laugh Hunter's remark about the ship. When all was said and done, he agreed 100%. Still, now wasn't the time for talking or proclamations. Yet.

"You two are like two peas in a pod."
"You just don't get it. You don't feel it like we do."
"Just glad you're making friends."
"Let's not get carried away here."

Without another word between the two, Zero reached the island with Hunter in tow. "So how'd your last job go?" The Poison Dragon Slayer chuckled at the question from the Jade Dragon Slayer. "Well, I finished it. Messed up a few things..." You destroyed the town inn during your fight... "But nobody got hurt." Zero shook off water from his hair as the rest seemed to roll off his jacket. It'd be dry within minutes. "Love this thing. Only thing that could be better is a little fire to dry all of me off faster."

Hunter chuckled as Zero said he messed up but no one got hurt. Sounded like a good day for a Dragon Slayer going solo on a job. "Good to hear. You, uh, there for this briefing Master Jack said happened? All he did was call me and tell me to come along. Sounded important."

"Briefing? Pfft... Sure I..." Zero began but Zenoram quickly chimed in.

"Wasn't. We weren't at the briefing." This was followed by a prompt scoff.

"Honestly, I just got back before they left. Heard a few Dragon Slayers were needed and decided to get myself on the trip. Word is we might come face to face with a dragon or two." Zero said as a confident toothy grin form on his lips. He cracked his knuckles. "For as Long as I knew, there were only two dragons left. One of which was Hemlock. Since one just up and disappeared and Hemlock..." Zero trailed off and looked down. The grin was gone, replaced with a scowl. "Point is, if there are more I wanna take a shot at 'em. And if they're dangerous, it'll be like handling a problem before it starts." He glanced at the forest of the island and than back at Hunter.

"Lookin at this place reminds me of that one sparring session we had." He chuckled. "You remember, right? When I kicked your ass." This was not true. In fact, it'd been a good spar, but neither had actually had an overwhelming victory. If anything it could have been called a draw if either wanted to do that. Zero was too stubborn though.

Hunter raised an eyebrow at the other Dragon Slayer. "Kicked my ass? I seem to recall it was your ass that got kicked, my friend." He took a moment to look around himself and sniff the air. While everything seemed to have recovered in the last one hundred years, something about the scent on the wind...it didn't smell right. "You smell that?"

"Whatever you say," Zero chuckled before taking on a more serious demeanor. He had picked up the scent upon their arrival on the island. He might have gotten it sooner without the introduction of sea water to his mouth and nose while swimming from the boat. "I got it." He responded to the question from Hunter. "It's pretty damn familiar." He was getting a similar feeling to the one he'd gotten when Hemlock had taken him to meet Amaya's dragon parent. Still, this was different. A bit more ominous as it were. It might not have been a dragon, but something just as powerful as it were. Still, the thought of something just as powerful was nothing to scoff at. "We're all gonna have to be careful."

Hunter didn't reply right away, still sniffing the air. Now that the sea salt was begging to clear from his nose, things were becoming more distinct. The initial scent he'd picked up began to become separate scents with subtle but distinct differences from each other. All of them made him crinkle his nose. "I can't place it, but that's...there's more than one scent. One of 'em's really spicy smelling. It's weird..." Then he realized he hadn't responded to Zero's comment from earlier. "Yeah, caution's good and all, but we can't waste time either."

"Who said anything about wasting time?" Zero scoffed and chuckled at Hunter's point. It was obvious, wasn't it? "Not like either of us is scared. We're not here to take out time. It's just another job." He said calmly as he looked around once more, sniffing at the air. "But we aren't stupid enough to get all showboaty and reckless either." He added simply. "I guess the only question is what does our leader or whoever is in charge planning to do?"

Hunter looked at the other dragon slayer, an eyebrow raised. "We're dragon slayers mate, everything we do is showy whether we want it to be or not." He turned to look at where the rowboats were and grimaced. "Fucking modern transportation. Why's it gotta be such a bitch to use?"

Zero snickered at the notion of Dragon Slayers always being showy. "Yeah, it's pretty fuckin cool isn't it." He said before looking back around. "So, should we head off to explore? A team of two Dragon slayers is sure to find a lot more than just about anyone else." He asked calmly. It was a big island, but if this dragon thing was real, they'd be safer together than apart.

Hunter looked along the beach and back towards the others. "Might not be a bad idea, but we should probably wait for the rest of them to catch up. Amaya came too right? Three slayers are better than two."

Zero sniffed at the air again. Something was still bothering him about this place and the longer they were there the more apparent it became. It felt flooded with magical power. We'll probably end up splitting into groups or something. But I think it'd be smart to stick together. Dragon slayers together would be more effective than apart. Any mages together at all would be more effective. Even a weakened dragon, assuming there are some here, are far more trouble to deal with than any S-class or higher." He said a bit more serious now that the time to begin had come. Zero was excited, but things felt weird. He wasn't sure how things would go, but he would listen as necessary, at least so long as it was within his interest. "Even if we split, we should try and meet up again."

Hunter nodded, still sniffing at the air. He couldn't place it, but there was a scent there, one that seemed horribly out of place amongst all the others. But after a moment, he let it go. Driving himself mad trying to place where it went wasn't going to do him any good. "Agreed. Guess we just wait for the game plan then."

"Gods I hope they come soon." Zenoram said taking back control for a moment. He glanced at Hunter. "We've never really talked." Zero and Zenoram had disclosed their situation to Hunter in the past. It wasn't a big deal to them, never was. Even so, when the group met up it was for training, or work. Zero handled much of everything. But he had to conserve his strength and get his head straight after the boat ride. "I've always wondered how our magics would pair." Zenoram commented, as they would be joined soon and any chance of casual conversation would be replaced with the more serious matter at hand. A possible impending battle.

Something was wrong. Something was definitely wrong. Before Ferrin even hit the shore, he felt the island's power. It was in turmoil, rolling, twisting, and turning. Fighting. But against what? He also felt something like anguish, mixed with a malevolent, pulsating energy that reminded Ferrin of oozing, festering, maggot-ridden flesh. He felt like he could smell it, see it, even taste it. He blanched and put up his mental blocks to dampen his naturally acute senses while fighting to keep his stomach under control.

The phantom sensations weren't real; none of what he was sensing was literal, he reminded himself. It was how his mind was interpreting the information it received through his magical senses, just like his physical ones. He hadn't noticed it earlier because he had been too wrapped up in his own thoughts, but coming closer it hit him like a slap to the face.

He hesitated on the water, taking deep breaths. He could do this, he had dealt with his magical sensitivity for a lifetime. He carefully lowered his blocks, like peaking through closed eyelids.

It came again, but he was ready for it and steadied himself. The island itself was powerful. It radiated light and life, but mixed in was something else, a dark energy. It felt twisted, corrupted, and horribly wrong. Ferrin couldn't tell if it was part of the island's own anima or something else entirely. Never the less, something was wrong here.

It would appear that the girl's premonitions had some basis. The island's very anima loci is wounded. Not to forget that dark energy.

He put up his barriers once more and forged forward against the pervasive wrongness, each step growing harder then the last until suddenly, it was gone. He stumbled forward at the sudden absence, taking his first steps on the shady shore.

He was standing on Tenrou at last. Hesitantly, he reached out. He still felt the dark power, but it seemed to be held at bay for now.

Suddenly, the island's anima swept up against him and washed over him in a nearly physical wave. Ferrin reflexively shielded himself, but then he caught his breath in awe. He wasn't standing on the shore anymore. He was in a clearing the base of the tree, facing a hollow in the trunk and surrounded by jungle. Little pin-picks of light, like fireflies, flit about. They swirled, gathering and danced around him, laughing. Finally. They seemed to say in a discordant chorus. A lost Fairy has returned. He saw some detach out the the corner of his eye and he watched them float down to land where his guildmark was hidden. Ferrin gasped as his suddenly felt his guildmark pulse, sending waves of magic through his body. Then the lights scattered with phantom giggles.

And the feeling was gone. Ferrin was back at the shore, feeling like he just awoke from a dream. What was...? Did that...actually happen?

Disturbed, he wandered around a bit, searching for that strange sensation again. Failing to find anything, he did a more physical search of the edge of the tree line, approximately where he felt that sensation of being watching seeming from. His search turned up nothing. He never was a terribly good at woodcraft and hunting anyway. He stood from where he had knelt and brushed himself off. Time to go back to the others. He decided. He turned to walk away and then, he felt someone gently tug on his sleeve. At the same time, something cold and wet brushed the back of his neck.

Fortunately no one was around. Otherwise his brave, manly image would have been quite ruined by the decidedly unmanly, frightened yelp that certainty did not come from him. He leaped away in what certainly not an undignified scramble and called fire to his hand.

The firelight revealed a large bramble bush.

Ferrin stared for a beat. Then he started laughing. Hanging from his sleeve, caught in the folds, but not the enchanted material itself, was an arm of the bramble bush. Hung over where was crouched were some low-hanging branches, dangling leaves. He chuckled at his tension, but who could blame him? All things considered, it was lucky he hadn't just incinerated everything around him. Still amused, he used his handy, pun supremely intended, metal Gauntlet to carefully disentangle the thorns. As he did so, he noticed something he missed: a black thread, caught on the same bush. It was small and blended with the shadows. He reached in and picked it from the vines. It took a few tries, but he managed to free it. He held it up against the weak light that filtered through the trees. It was plain, black, and unassuming. Nothing much else. He considered trying a thaumaturgical spell to track it's source. But he immediately shot it down. The thread was too small and fragile. He could easily burn it up if he charged it with too much magic. He was better at big kabooms then really delicate magic like that. Still, it might be useful later. He pulled a little wooden cube that he kept for just this purpose out of a pocket, and placed the thread inside. On the lid was carved a small rune. He placed a finger on it and muttered "Memoria." Picturing the thread as he did. The rune glowed softly, then faded. Now, if he simply touched the rune, it would remind him what it contained. He had dozens of the things, and he had to keep track of them somehow. They were meant to contain anything small that would be easily lost in his pockets, that he might need later, like that thread.

He didn't invent the spell, he had met the guy who designed it and convinced him to show Ferrin how it worked. Ferrin, however, didn't quite have the hang of it yet. The boxes had been made by that man. The best he could manage was activating them. He was currently trying to find a way to use them to remember names.

He stowed the box and picked his way back to shoreline, spotting S...(Oh. Sasha right), along with Time Lord (when did he show up?!) and a few other members getting out of their boat. He called out and strolled up to them. "You were right in coming here. It seems something valde malus is afoot." He said nodding to Sasha, deliberately ignoring Patrick. "So what now? You are the de facto leader of our merry little band of merry men, women, cats, and others. Do you have a plan or do we need to make one?" He asked.

@MarshiestMallow
"Hmph. I may be omnipotent, but I'm not immune to everything." Rajah huffed, arms crossed. Just who did this girl think she was talking to?! Sure, her magic seemed to be a little effective against her but she shouldn't get too cocky! She could wipe the floor with this Phoenix Slayer if she so desired, she...just happened to not want to! Yeah. Totally. That was it.
"I can eat just fine Sir Ignatius...speaking of which, I desire sustenance." Now that Iggy mentioned it, she was quite famished. Then again, when wasn't the little menace hungry was the bigger question at hand.

"I-I don't know. He just said he wanted to speak with...uh 'Solias's daughter'." Jasmine mumbled, bringing her hands back to her chest once the pendant was safely in Penny's hands. She felt...weird without the little piece of metal around her neck. More uncomfortable than usual. Why was that?

Once the pendant was in her hands, Penny would feel a tingling sensation spread throughout her body. The source quite clearly being the small piece of jewellery in her grasp. A peculiar, unassuming little piece of metal really. Though it had a gleaming, almost mystical sensation about it. A small jewel in the centre soon began to faintly glow, before soon a voice was heard.
"So you are the one known as 'Penny' I presume? Hmm...you certainly have the feel of your father about you. The young one has told me about you, and I have seen enough of her memories to assure me of the faith she has placed in you. I'm a little...envious even." A deep chuckle soon followed. "Excuse me, it would seem that my manners have forsaken me. I got excited as you remind me greatly of my old friend, though you are his daughter so it isn't a surprise. I am the Water Dragon; Ryujin. Tell me, how does your father fare? I haven't seen him in...oh, a few hundred years at least."