Fleo Plector – Guild Hall
With a small laugh, Fleo shrugged.
“I'm not a really high A. I barely made the cut back when I was with Diamond Storm. That was my old guild. Plus, I've never really though of myself as all that powerful. I haven't spent much time with you over these two weeks, but I've seen you do some stuff. It's all pretty darn impressive!”After Angelo's suggestion, Fleo was impressed by how the lightning wizard took charge, so to speak, even though his speech proved somewhat difficult for her to understand. Did he have some sort of accent? If so, it was unknown to the dusty woman. The gist of his idea, however, reached her completely, and following Trinity's own little introduction, Fleo was happy to do her own.
“Okay! I use Dust Magic.” Fleo made a lifting motion with her hands, and dust from the lot in which the trio of Phoenix Wingers stood gathered around her, sifting through the air in a leisurely whirl.
“I can make bombs, streams, a barrier like a tornado, and with my Dust Craft, I can at least try to design almost anything. I can also use it to propel myself around, whether for travel or for awesome kicks. But, uh, it's kinda slow to work. For a bunch of my spells I need to gather dust from my surroundings, and even then, their slowness can make them easy to deal with. For example, if I were to throw my Dust Bombs at Trinity, I bet she could shoot them out of the air before they even get near.”Xyster – Phoenix Wing Guild Hall
After wrapping up a few games with the few remaining Phoenix Wing Team members, Xyster cycled back around to Nolan again. Before she could speak to him, a girl with mint-colored clothes and hair approached and inquired about her guild. Though Xyster could dimly remember already saying something of the sort, she was only too happy to introduce herself again.
“We're from Frenzy Plant! Corporal Xyster at your service. That's Joakim over by the door waiting for me to quit fooling around,” she pointed him out,
“And at the bar are Harper and Nandy.”Though knowing it was getting to be the time to go -Joakim was already standing conspicuously near the doors- the Dullahan couldn't help but entertain one of her favorite subjects.
“Nice! You'd make a great Dullahan yourself. There's nothing sweeter than the end of a life...but then again, focusing too much on that sort of stuff keeps you from taking part in the rest of what life has to offer. I'm just playing at being human, but it's pretty awesome. If you've embraced the art of taking lives, make sure you haven't forgotten how to treasure them! Spending a day at the mall has earned me a lot more friends than a day at the morgue. You might not think you need friends, but trust me, you do—even if only to bury you. I can't think of anything else to do right now, so I guess it's time to say goodbye-jojo! I hope I get to fight you at the magic games! Ta-ra!”Xyster popped her head up into the air, waved goodbye, and then caught it by her ribbon as it fell. She made for the bar and caught Harper and Nandy in mid-conversation, though to call it a complete and proper conversation on Nandy's part would have been a gross overstatement. A few words later and the three were headed for the door, making sure they paid for what they had taken. Joakim, refreshing his Arctic cooling spell, stepped out into the morning sunlight, and the other Frenzy Plant soldiers followed him.
Zander Louvier – the Frenzy Fort
As much as Zander wanted to quiz Beardo to see if he'd been truly trying, or instead purposefully taking it easy so that the spirited boy could get in, Zander knew such an exercise would be fruitless. It did make him think, however. As rigid as he seemed sometimes, Zander had a good grasp of his flaws, and if even the guild's lowly privates were sabotaging the proper system so that a potential opportunity for the Ruby Knight to build character could get in, they probably had a good grasp too.
“Perhaps next time you'll know us well enough to put forth your spirit friends. I will look forward to your next exam.” He allowed Gabriel to go to Andrea, and rerouted his focus on the newcomer Thor. She and Edith stood poised for battle.
“Very well then. Prepare yourselves...go!”Eager to begin, Edith did not hesitate. Though no great fighter, she had a strategy in mind that might allow her to overcome a stronger opponent.
”Stesso Allegro!” Moving her fingers quickly, she strummed her lyre, playing a quick, cheerful note. The lyre's glittering strings sparkled, and something about Edith changed. Her every movement was more rapid. Her first move had yet to finish, however.
”Avversario Adagio!” The glitter of her lyre lent a shining color to its sound waves as they approached Thor. While difficult to avoid, all the wave would do to Thor if it washed over her would be to slow her own movements down, making it difficult to move at anything more than a leisurely pace.
Andrea van der Putten – the Frenzy Fort
Andrea blanched.
“No, thank you. Don't like being licked.” She curled up slightly, intent on the duel between Edith and Thor.
“'S okay. I'm not very good at talking to people...didn't expect that I'd be able to get my point across...sorry. Thanks for trying to make me feel better though. Feelings take a lot of work, so even if you're a pretty strange wizard, you've got...my respect.” Having not met Gabriel's eyes the whole time, or even really been facing him, Andrea now held her fingers outstretched and summoned a rock monster. Though a rather grotesque blend of dog and crocodile, not to mention its six eyes, its presence caused Andrea's eyes to light up.
“Aww, who's a good munchkin?!” The stony critter licked her face with a gravelly tongue and lay down for Andrea to rest her head upon its side.
As she did so, the battle began.
A shrug and a distinctive smile greeted Grant's advice.
“Oi, I thought I explained this the first time I came in, a couple-a days ago. We aren't goons from Phoenix Wing, we're freelancers! Hell, we've been workin' small jobs for ya? Those Phoenix Wingers are such sticks in the mud, it's unbelievable. Love your parfum, by the way.” He grinned down at Ayame and held his hands in a
can-you-believe-this gesture. He had been worried by the girl's expression on the first day, when he'd asserted himself by cursing the first man that had gotten fresh with him. Hopefully she hadn't been thinking that he did it for no reason, but one could never be certain what children thought.
“Anyhoo, we weren't gonna spend much more time here anyway. Iron Enigma's a real neat place, it's so refreshing to be somewhere were people don't stigmatize and restrict magic like mine. Now that we've got some money and had some laughs, we're gonna be visiting the next guild on the list: Dragon Fang! With the Games right around the corner, we've not got much time, but I know we can make it. Thanks for not murdering us! Buh-bye!”With that, Nero and Ayame were on their way, leaving the guild hall without further ado. The money earned by helping out Iron Enigma with a few jobs would allow them to take the train to Shirotsume Town, speeding up their journey. Undoubtedly his companion was confused with this course of action, so Nero obliged to explain.
“I bet you're wondering why we're leaving Iron Enigma already after only a few days! Well, I was planning to give some of the bigger guilds in Fiore a sort of 'trial run'. See the headquarters, meet new people, curse them, and most importantly find out who's on their teams for the Grand Magic Games! Plus, knowing their powers can come in handy too, if I choose to pick sides.” Adjusting his glasses, Nero recited from memory,
“A hundred years ago, when the legendary Fairy Tail was on the road to becoming greatest guild in the country, they participated in the Grand Magic Games. From the records, a lot of the matches were won by surprise; basically, one wizard didn't know how the other's powers worked, and they got their butts handed to them. If I decide I want to help a certain guild, I can tell them all about the members of their opponents! And no, it's not cheating! It's free knowledge, that most people don't bother researching because they're too busy with other stuff.”As the duo approached the train station, Nero laughed out loud,
“Still, I think being the guest announcer would be a whole lot more fun! Hey, do you want to grab a bite before we ride the train? I remember you were pretty excited when I told you I'd ridden the train, back when we were at Phoenix Wing!”
