[IC] Fairy Tail: United we Stand REMAKE

[Marc]

The empty forest was completely void of any sound whatsoever, except for that of the crunch of leaves under light footsteps. Their pace was quick, and a small figure dashed between the trees whose branches sat eerily still despite the cold wind that whipped against the young girts bare skin. Several times her dress had been caught on those branches, and she had many cuts along her dirt ridden body. She had to ignore the pain, or else it would catch up to her. While she was running, a strange sense of helplessness came over her; like she knew what was to happen next. Of coarse she did, since she had seen this all before. This nightmare that eternally haunted her every slumber. She stood up, shaking, and turned around to face the inevitable. She screamed upon seeing the face of her pursuer, a scream which woke her abruptly from her slumber and back into the infirmary of the Fairy Tail guild.

"Yukiko! It's alright, Yukiko! It was just a bad dream!" Alicia Vermillion sat by the girl's side as she woke screaming, wiping her forehead with a damp clothe and trying to calm her down. The infirmary was empty for now, and some of the beds looked like they had never even been slept in. The morning light shone in through the window, and it's warmth was calming to Yukiko. Alicia was holding her in her arms, whispering into her ear. "Everything's fine. You're safe here." The words comforted her, but in the back of her mind she knew they couldn't be true. There was something after her; how could she feel safe knowing that? The door opened to reveal an elderly man with long, white whiskers and a golden Fairy Tail mark right in the middle of his forehead.

"Thank you for looking after our young friend, Alicia," Pollux Vermillion walked with a limp, using his cane to support his uneasy steps. "I'll take her from her, you may return to your work." He gave his grandaughter a kiss on the forehead before sending her on her way. Alicia flashed her a friendly smile before disappearing back into the guild hall. Pollux helped Yukiko out of bed. She was still wearing her sundress; the only piece of clothing she owned. At least Alicia was nice enough to wash it.
"I think it's time you joined our guild, officially." Pollux suggested, leading them out into the bustling guild hall. It was only morning yet there were people drinking, laughing and brawling all over the place. It was chaos and Yukiko didn't like the noise at all. Would she really be comfortable in a place like this? Then her nightmare came back to mind, and she decided a guild filled with powerful mages was the safest place for her.

Yukiko sat on a tall stool at the bar, her wings tucked gently behind her. They ached to be spread and she suddenly realised that she couldn't remember the last time she'd been out flying. Master Pollux brought over a stamp to her and asked her to raise her leg. She lifted her left leg up and Pollux pushed the magic stamp onto her. When he removed it, a white Fairy Tail insignia shone along her skin. The idea of joining the guild was unsettling to her, but seeing this mark made all of that go away. It was as if this mark was telling her she belonged.

Meanwhile Zy was sitting at a table with some of his friends, laughing about a joke Zy had told. Zy took sips of his fruit juice while the rest of them finished downing their second glass of ale. He never really took to alcohol, much preferring his sweet drinks. He was often teased that the guild couldn't handle him with anymore energy. When one of them finished their drink, they begun talking to the group.
"Hey you guys hear about that town, Haven?" his speech was slurred, but he gained everyones attention. "They had another sighting of that creature again." This was meant with a bunch of groans, including one from Zy.
"Oh come on, man. What, do you still believe in the tooth fairy as well?" Zy teased, which was met with another round of laughter.
"I'm not kidding, man! Something seriously scary is going on down there. Alicia put up a request to go investigate it but Master Pollux took it down for some reason."
"That's because Master Pollux isn't an idiot, he knows there's no point wasting valuable wizards on a wild goose chase. Haven's hit some hard times lately so they're probably just using this whole monster business as a means to attract tourists. And it's working, every sucker and their mother is heading over there to catch a glimpse of the mysterious creature that's apparently haunting the town. It's all a big scam." Zy was listening intently, but he also caught a glimpse of Master Pollux walking out of the infirmary with a young girl. She must have been a new member. He decided that he'd say hello later; for now he was too busy listening into the argument between his friends.

---------------------

The town of Haven was silent, a crowd of Guards hanging around a certain street and not letting anyone pass. An elderly woman in a long, black dress walked at a brisk pace. She gave the guards a quick stare, watching them scatter before her like insects as she made her way to the scene. There were a few of the town wizards inspecting the body, but they quickly stood up and made way as soon as they saw the woman approaching them.
"What's the report?" She asked harshly, staring them down and making the men uncomfortable. "Well hurry up! I don't have all day!"
"Ah, yes! Sorry M'lady. Just like the other two victims. She's been strangled and all her bones are crushed. She also has traces of dark magic inside of her as well. Terrifying stuff, I'm afraid it's too dangerous for us to extract and inspect." The first wizard said. He relaxed when the woman's gaze left him and moved to the second wizard.
"And you, who was she and are there any reasons why she was targeted?"
"I don't believe she was targeted M'lady. She was staying at a local inn while passing through town. I think her name was Emily. As far as we're concerned she'd done nothing to upset anyone."
"She was young, by the sounds of it. Full of life. Whatever did this is going to die by my hand." The woman was fuming, anger burning through her eyes. This was her town, and she would not let it be terrorized.
"I'm going to Fairy Tail. My request has been ignored by that old geezer for far too long. When I return I'll be dragging his very best wizards back with me to solve these shenanigans once and for all." The woman turned and walked away, and on the back of her neck a faded out Fairy Tail insignia came into the light.

[Drakn Vilex]

"Fairy Tail.......... A wonderful guild to build my strength and possibly.......meet a pretty lady." Said Haust in a enthused manner.

Haust Fildrek had been standing infront of the guild for probably an hour before walking up to the knocking and waiting at the door politely. He hadn't been much of one just to walk in. The scars on his back shown he was taught manners near the east coast where the council doesn't go to very much. Mr. Fildrek had a small magical aura that only very high level mages would be able to see. It was an aura that projected good energy, positive, to help uplift feelings. Haust wanted to join this guild to have fun and to protect friends even though he had not made any yet. His first task was to make at least a friend or two here.

-----------------------------------3 months back--------------------------------------------------------------------

Haust Fildrek had finally slain the grand lobster monster of the east coast and his name became known to most of Fiore as "The Raging Ocean Dragon" a title in which made the wizard laugh a bit whenever he heard it. In his mind, he should be known as "The Laughing Ocean Dragon" or "The Joy Filled Ocean Dragon". Haust wasn't much on being feared, or admired, what ever the case was he just wanted to be known as a helper. He was a well kindred spirit and just enjoyed a challenge in order to hone his skills as a great wizard.

---------------------------------Present time -----------------------------------------------------------------------

Haust stood at the door without a guild mark, and only a target for his back to be in other guilds. The rouge wizard was wanted by many if not all guilds, but Fairy tail was the only guild on his mind for it was far from the east coast. He wasn't running away, but moving on from his past. It was time for the young wizard to find a place that would treat him like family, and not as a simple worker bee/slave. Mr. Fildrek would wait at the door playing with two marble sized bubbles of water and electricity, spinning them in his hand like Baoding balls. The sounds these bubbles would make is like mermaids singing a soft humming tone that relaxed the ear.

[CallMeMisterSmith]

The guild hall was alive with sound and circumstance, everyone was hustling and bustling along, folks returning from jobs (some more worse for wear) and other going out to earn their Jewels. Music was playing off in the distance. Ben could hear people having some sort of discussion about a "monster" in the town of Haven. He paid little attention to that, as he had more pressing matters to attend to.

*CRACK*

A loud sound echoed throughout the hall as the cue ball connected with the 9 sending it straight for the corner pocket. "Jeez Colby," Ben kidded "You just wanna call this your third loss now so I can Just take all the Jewel You have with ya? I have some reading I planned on getting back to and I really don't want to embarrass you in front of your buddies" A childish formed across his face, "Tell ya what, you sink this next shot blindfolded, and we call it even, Cool?" And with that Colby sealed his fate and chalked another win up on the board for Ben. "I am unstoppable!" he shouted. "Alright kids I gotta go do a little reading now, if anyone needs me, they know where I'll be."

---

Back in his room Ben unfolded the small piece of nondescript paper he removed from his pocket and began to skim its contents. "The Horror of Haven" it read, "This terrible entity has been viciously slaughtering travelers and townsfolk alike. Terrifying all whom live here and wreaking havoc on the surrounding landscape we ask that you come here and find out the source of this terrible blight that has fallen upon us. Please aid us in our time of need for we have no one else to turn to..."

The request went on.. "500,000 Jewel" he thought "Quite the payout for what could easily be just some lunatic with a blood lust." I wonder why Pollux was so quick to hide this from us? Does he really think its a waste of time? I bet he just doesn't think any of us here can handle it! Not like it's some special S-Class quest or anything. I wonder if I should just head to Haven to check it out? He thought to himself. As Ben looked around his studio apartment he remembered that this place wasn't free, and he hadn't done a decent paying job in quite some time. "Maybe" he thought. "Maybe Pollux will let me go on this quest if I confront him about it, or I can just go back to the guild and see if I can sucker anyone else into a little trouble, after all, what can it hurt?"

With that thought Ben gathered up his things and headed back to the guild, he figured he would try to find a few capable people to team up with, seeing as he knew Gramps would tell him "NO" outright if he as trying to do this one solo.

---

As he entered the guild he brushed past a young man with long blonde hair seemingly standing awestruck in front of the guild. As he passed Ben turned with a smile and said "You know, you actually have to open the doors before you can get inside" He chuckled and pushed open the guild doors, stopping to hold them open for a second and turning to the mage behind him. "If you make it past these bad boys, look for Pollux Vermillion, he's our guild master...after you talk to him, come find me in the guild hall" He motioned to the mage with a thumbs up and a wink, "I'm Ben by the way, hope to see ya inside"

With that Ben ducked into the doorway and made his way over to a small table with some unfamiliar members who he had overheard earlier talking about this Haven mess and proceeded to wait for the right time to approach.

[Rune_Alchemist]

A dark skinned girl clad in armor and green clothes ran down the streets of Magnolia in a hurry, almost bulldozing people over in her haste. Whatever she was obviously late for, it must have been important for her to have so little regard for others right now and earning more than a few glares as a result. Well, It was important to the girl anyways, bur maybe not so much to other people. In either case, the girl ran down the street, the few pieces of armor she was wearing clattering against her body. She turned the corner, only to be met with a wooden cart to the stomach.

She hit the cart with speed enough to send it flipping over and her with it. The cart broke in two, spilling its cargo over the ground. The merchant who had owned the cart simply watched as his livelihood was destroyed right then and there. He fell to his knees and looked at the destruction this girl had brought to his leafy vegetables."My cabbages!" He shouted into the air, his hands grabbing his hair in despair, though his face was one of defeat as though this wasn't the first time this had happened. Poor guy. She felt slightly sorry for him, but she had bigger problems right now. Like the road quickly approaching her face for a make-out session. Thankfully, as an earth mage, she could handle a crash such as this rather easily.

"Sorry!" She shouted back at the man, as she hit the ground. Well, more like drilled through the ground. As soon as she hit the stone, it collapsed beneath her, leaving a rather large hole where she had once been. Diver magic was quite useful, no? Quite useful for getting around, and good for a fun laugh at the guild when she just randomly drilled through the floor and ended up under someone. That was always hilarious. Except for the time she drilled into the mens restroom. Well, actually, that was hilarious to her. Not so much everyone else. Well, this time she was sure she would get her target right and prevent any mishaps like last time...or the time before that....or the time before that....or...come to think of it, she never got her target right. Ah well...fiftieth time was the charm!...or was this the fifty first?....whatever, she was going to nail it this time, she was sure of it.
~~~~~~~~

The ground next to Yukiko suddenly began to...crack, where she sat on her bar stool. Suddenly, it gave way, the ground falling into a hole, moments later a dark skinned girl wearing a few pieces of armor and green clothing cam practically shooting out of the hole at a speed that made it obvious she was using some form of magic. Chloe, was her name. And it seemed like for once, she got her destination right! More or less. She had been aiming for the cellar where they stored all the drinks and stuff, but the bar would do. At least she hadn't ended up in Gramps' room or something.

The girl landed just a few feet away from the hole as she brushed a few particles of dirt out of her dark green hair, and at first didn't notice Yukiko. Instead, wearing a big grin, she walked over to the bar and took a seat on a stool and ordered herself a drink. "Whew...made it." She chuckled.

[Draexzhan]

A blinding flash of light struck every corner of the guild hall as the doors opened. When it faded, at the open doors stood a man in a half mask, arms outstretched, cape flowing behind him. Silent doves flew out from under the cape and flew into an aurora that had magically appeared towards the ceiling. The doves circled around, until they silently exploded into showers of sparkling confetti. Out of nowhere, a spotlight shown on the man who had just entered the guild hall, as he calmly walked through the guild hall. Upon reaching the far end of the hall, he turned dramatically to face the rest of the guild hall, and in a silky smooth but booming voice, he shouted, "MISSION SUCCESSFUL!" He bowed to the guild members, not caring what they thought of the show he'd just put on, as his light show faded and he waltzed over to one of the tables, sitting down next to Zy.

"The Shining Star, Vero Beacon, was too much for those bandits." He spoke dramatically, pulling a white rose out from his bag. "Leading them by the nose was far too easy. All the village needed to do was set up the old pitfall trap and I handled the rest." He turned to one of the girls at the table, handing her the white rose. "For you, sweet azalea." That wasn't her name, of course, but Vero gave everyone the nickname of some kind of flower. The recipient squealed in delight, smelling the contents of the rose. Gold sparkles flew out of the rose and encircled her, which only made her swoon even more. "It would seem the flower likes you. Maybe because you're alike in so many ways." Vero said smoothly. The girl sighed in awe, and it was then that Vero finally seemed to notice the rest of the people at the table. "Good day to you all. I trust everything's going well? Don't leave poor Vero in the dark. Any news?"

[Drakn Vilex]

Watching the man burst in with such flare, Haust would walk in behind him minding his business looking for the master. He had been well mannered for most of his life, his playful nature wouldn't come out until allowed to be let out. As he looked around at all the fellow mages, he would notice many strong and weak mages. All seemed happy and energetic though. This made Haust feel a bit at home even, he saw the mission board and grinned widely seeing a massive amount of missions to do. He would have to figure out which ones would have been in his best interest when he became a member. He went up to the one called 'Alicia Vermillion' without knowing who she was or anyone for that matter. With a small cough to get her attention, he would speak very punctiliously.

" Do you know where I could find the Master of this Guild Miss? I have traveled from the east coast of Fiore to ask him to join this guild, and would very much enjoy his presence."

Fildrek stood there awaiting a reply, standing straight and looking her directly in the eyes, with his sea green irises.

[Lugubrious]

Just as Beacon voiced his question, a mug made of carved horn trailing a stream of tea, zoomed past his ear. The offender, a twenty-year old Breath wizard named Raghu Siddhartha, attempted to shout a hasty apology but was sucker-punched by his opponent. As he reeled, gasping for air, Sanguin smiled behind her mask. “Don't get distracted, Rag!” Though she was breathing heavily from the short fight, there was a distinct note of triumph in her voice. “At this rate you're going to lose for the fourth time in a row!” Without delay, the woman moved forward, aiming a kick at her foe's stomach. A cheeky grin appeared on Raghu's face as he stepped to the side to let the strike move on past him; clearly, he wasn't as fatigued as he seemed. “Oh yeah?” In quick succession, he struck her pauldron three times with his palms, rattling her with the repeated impacts. Sanguin pulled back an arm to deliver a knockout-worthy left hook to his unprotected face, but the foreigner proved faster.

Slamming his fist on the table, Raghu popped up a metal plate, still replete with it's owner's mashed potato, and brandished it like a shield. Sanguin's fist smashed into the plate at full speed, and the force of the collision caused her momentum to abruptly cease and reverse. Thinking quickly, she span to come around in a haymaker with her right, laughing maniacally as she did so. As she span, however, Raghu did as well, and his crescent kick met Sanguin's mask before her fist could properly connect.

She grunted, and her mask flew off toward the door. Limply, Sanguin collapsed to the floor, where she lay, panting like a dog. Raghu uttered a wordless noise of exclamation, ecstatic to have finally beaten his rival. “Hah!” He shouted, bending over his opponent. “Looks like you have to let me buy you dinner after all!”
“I never agreed to that!” Sanguin protested, more irritated than enraged.
“Whatever you say, San.”
Raghu held out a hand to help her up, which Sanguin pushed away as she regained her feet. Calm now, she was pretty much back to normal except for the loss of her mask. The first thing she saw was Beacon. “You couldn't have hit me with that crescent if Shiny's big entrance hadn't dazzled me. But whatever. Get you next time.” She sat back down at the table, as if her brief but violent kerfuffle with her friend hadn't been disturbing in the least. Upon reaching out for the nearest cup, she found it empty, and set it down in disgust. “I don't know what your obsession with dinner is anyway. I get dinner every day.”
“It's kinda...a special thing. Gives two people the chance to talk alone, maybe get interested...”
“It's not one of those dating things, is it?”
Raghu found himself gripped by a silent embarrassment in the face of Sanguin's bluntness. From that, however, the Blood Moon Child was able to garner all the information she needed.
“Forget about it. That whole business is stupid and childish. Where's my mask?”

She got up to look around for it, though the instability of her walking meant that she was still dazed enough to have a tough time of it.

[j8cob]

The man wrapped in green vines was thrown on the ground rather casually. Not like he would feel the impact, considering he was entirely unconscious. And the small fall would be the least of his worries once he wakes up. After all, he was now captured. Sitting on the edge of a giant floating leaf, her feet just barely above the ground, Mary flashed the villagers in front of her a smile and pushed some of her green hair out of her face. "There you go, sir," she told the elderly gentleman that stood closest to the captured criminal. The small crowd seemed impressed with the speed she tracked down and captured the thief, considering she only arrived in the town an hour ago. The elderly man coughed once and looked back up at the Fairy Tail wizard riding a leaf.

"You did us a great service, Mary," the man said, before reaching his right hand in his pocket. Her eyes immediately lit up and she leaned forward. "Now it is time for your reward." In a moment of suspense and anticipation, the old man rifled through the pocket for a moment. But once he found what he was searching for, he removed his hand from his pocket and held out his hand. Immediately, Mary brought both her hands forward under his fist. Once he opened his hand, a single, tiny seed fell into her hands. "Are you sure this is the only reward you want? The man stole hundreds of thousands of Jewel worth of our property. It feels unfair to give you a single seed in return."

The green-haired woman shook her head as she brought her hands up to her face to inspect the seed. "Worry not, sir. I have been looking for this species for a very long time. As soon as I saw the request, I knew this was a local plant and that I could finally get my hands on it. Now I can add another gem to my garden," she explained, sounding quite joyous of her success. The townsfolk simply shrugged. They were grateful for her expedient assistance, but couldn't quite wrap their heads around her priorities. With tender care, Mary picked her purse up from the floating leaf and placed the seed in it. With that, she looked back up at the man and smiled. "I hope you all have a good day."

The young woman scooted back on the leaf to sit cross-legged. As the townsfolk waved goodbye, the floating leaf shot forward. Though it wasn't amazingly fast, it was vastly quicker than a carriage ride. Mary's hair fluttered in the wind as her magical leaf set course for Magnolia. The entire ride took only an hour, and Mary clutched her purse the entire way. Now, in the later morning, the S-Rank mage glided down from the hills above Magnolia on a course directly for the Fairy Tail guild hall. The giant leaf parked itself behind the guild hall, in the midst of a lush and exotic garden filled with many vibrant colors and aromas. As Mary hopped off her ride, the giant leaf began to break down and scatter into many smaller leaves that were dragged away by the light breeze.

"I finally have you," she whispered to the seed as she withdrew it from her purse. After walking to a specific location in her garden, where space was clearly reserved for another plant, she kneeled down. Taking a trowel that was already prepared nearby, she made a small hole and placed the seed inside. After covering it up with the displaced dirt, she reached for a tin watering can and gave the newly planted seed some nutrition. With that done, Mary let out a sigh of relief and stood up. "There." After placing the gardening tools back where they belonged, the shoeless woman entered the guild hall from the back door.

Already it was energetic and full of life. Just how Mary liked it. Slinging her red purse over her shoulder, she entered the main hall and took in a deep breath. She could smell alcohol and sweat, but more importantly she could smell the oak that the hall was composed of. The smell of home. She gracefully walked to the bar just as Chloe appeared a few stools away. Her subterranean entrance displaced a young girl that Mary had never seen before, and the display made her chuckle. But her attention went back to Alicia behind the counter. "Hi, Miss Alicia," Mary greeted with a polite smile. "The mission I grabbed early this morning has been completed. Just letting you know. I also accepted an alternate reward that wasn't on the flyer. I finally can add a Great Vine Dancer to my garden."

[Marc]

There never was a dull moment in the Fairy Tail guild. Quite an endearing sounding phrase for an outsider to hear. Just imagine all the fun and excitement you could have in the Fairy Tail guild? However being a member was a different story, as Alicia quickly learnt over the years of growing up in this rough house. Indeed there never was a dull moment in Fairy Tail. It was the curse Alicia had to live with as she sat behind the bar trying to fill out paperwork. She glanced up to see Vero making his usual grand entrance, debating whether or not she should tell him that a good magician never uses the same trick twice. Sanguin and Raghu were brawling near Zy and his friends. They were talking rather loudly, but at least they weren't causing a commotion. Ben had just finished wiping his guildmates of their money and was heading out somewhere to go and read, apparently. There was just so much distracting her that she was finding it near impossible to complete her paperwork in piece. She would need to convince Pollux to let her use the library as her office. It wasn't as if anyone actually used it.
"Hi, Miss Alicia," A familiar voice called out. She raised her head slightly to see Mary, one of the Guild's strongest wizards. "The mission I grabbed early this morning has been completed. Just letting you know. I also accepted an alternate reward that wasn't on the flyer. I finally can add a Great Vine Dancer to my garden." Alicia smiled back at Mary. Her garden was quite a stunning display of exotic beauties and it was very well maintained. It was a very popular attraction of the guild, although most would need to be careful not to tread on any of the plants lest they wished to face certain death by Mary's hand.
"Mary, as your fellow guild member and friend I am delighted that you completed the task and spared the client their money." Her tone quickly changed to that of a more serious one, turning from praise to scolding. "However as this Guild's head of finances I shouldn't have to explain to you that every reward you receive has fifteen percent removed from it as tax to help fund the guild. Now I can't really take fifteen percent of a seed, can I?" For Alicia to talk so boldly to an S Class Mage would have seemed ridiculous to anyone else, but most in Fairy Tail knew that this was the way. While she would never be acknowledged as a mage, every member of Fairy Tail knew that without Alicia performing all the tedious acts that not even Master Pollux could be bothered with, the Guild would have crumbled a long time ago. Alicia softened up a bit to Mary, putting a hand on her shoulder.
"Please forgive me for sounding rather harsh. That seed will grow, so I will consider it an investment. I'm just a little more on edge about finances since we haven't been taking as many jobs as of late, and our expenses are always through the roof. We have to pay for maintenance, food, alcohol, accommodations, new resources for our archives and most of all..." Alicia was interrupted by Chloe charging out from the ground near Yukiko and Pollux, shattering the earth below and leaving behind a gaping hole in the Guild's floor. "... collateral damage."

Meanwhile Zy was watching Vero make his dramatic entrance. Everyone had their eyes on him and his flashiness. What a show off. Still, Zy didn't mind the guy. They weren't the closest of friends, but they didn't hate each other either. When he came to sit next to them, the other began to fill him in on what they were talking about.
"Elliot here thinks the Boogeyman is coming to get him," one of them teased, which was met by immediate protest from Elliot.
"I never said that! I'm just saying that there's something not right about that request for Haven." The others laughed at him, and Zy slung an arm around him and began to jab him in the side.
"Why don't we all go spend a night at an inn in Haven? We can have our very own ghost hunt."
"Now you're just teasing me!" The group laughed, when a lady walked by and was stopped by Vero for some more of his dramatic antics. He felt a little jealous when he made the girl at their table swoon over him. If she was that impressed with Vero's simple tricks, then Zy would have no problem winning her over. He made a quick motion with his fingers, and the squeals of delight suddenly turned into cries of fear as the gold dust that was floating around her head turned into a swarm of vicious bees before everyone's eyes. She flailed wildly, knocking over the table and everyone's drinks in the process.
"Get them off! Get them off!" She screamed, and Zy burst into laughter before dispelling his own illusion.
"Haha! You should have seen your face! Wow! That was hilarious!" He was practically on his side, but no one was laughing with him.
"What the hell is your problem, man?" Zy stopped laughing, looking up to see how furious everyone was with him. The girl was on the floor crying, alcohol spilt all over her.
"You just had to take it too far again, didn't you Zy?"
"Why are you always like this?" Zy stood up, backing away from the group. He instantly regretted what he had done.
"I'm sorry, I... I just. I didn't mean for that to happen, I'm so sorry." Zy turned away from them and ran away, cursing himself for being such an idiot. He was about to leave the guild when he suddenly bumped into Ben.

Alicia had heard the commotion with Zy and Vero unfold, but she was too focused on Chloe causing yet even more extensive damage to the guild that she didn't pay attention to it. She was about to go and yell at Chloe, when a stranger approached her asking to see Master Pollux. She immediately stared back at him, still fuming from her vented anger.
"Whatever it is I'm sure it can wai- Oh, you're new." She quickly regained her composure, embarrassed that she'd almost yelled at someone she'd just met. "My name is Alicia Vermillion. I am Pollux's granddaughter. I'd be happy to take you to see him." As quickly as she had turned hospitable, she returned back to being angry at Chloe as she lead the stranger towards her and the guild master.
"Chloe! Your skull is as thick as the rocks you wield! Do I physically have to drill it into you? Stop creating holes in the guild!" Alicia was so mad that she completely forgot about the stranger standing behind her. Meanwhile Pollux was laughing, patting Chloe on the head.
"Your aim is getting better child. It's good to see you so eager to practice your magic. It is who you are, after all."
"Grandfather we can't afford for you to be condoning this sort of behaviour. Just look at our bills!" Alicia flashed Pollux a long piece of paper, which he examined before jumping in shock at the final value on the paper.
"Dear lord that's a lot of zeros. Alicia for heaven's sake never show me that piece of paper again, I might have a heart attack." Alicia groaned. There was no winning with these people. Never a dull moment in Fairy Tail. She couldn't help but feel sorry for poor Yukiko, being thrown into all this mess. Speaking of Yukiko, she realised that she hadn't seen her at all during this ordeal and she could swear that she was right next to Pollux.
"Grandfather, where is Yukiko? Chloe didn't obliterate the poor girl, did she?" At the mention of their newest guild member, Master Pollux looked around in confusion.
"That is a good question. Yukiko! Where are you girl?" They looked under the bar and the tables but couldn't find her.
"Um," the young girls voice echoed from above. "I'm up here." Alicia and Pollux looked up to see Yukiko practically touching the rafters of the massive guild hall, her wings casually beating back and forth and keeping her in the air effortlessly.
"Simply magnificent," Pollux stated, watching in awe. "I thought it would be rude to ask, but I have been wondering about those wings since I first met you. Whether or not they were cosmetic or actually functional. Turns out it's the latter."
"Wizards use flying magic all the time Grandfather, you should stop staring at her like she's some kind of animal at the zoo." Alicia commented, although she was equally interested in the little flying girl.
"Yes but I sense absolutely no magic power around those wings. That flight is as natural as a real birds. Never in my life have I seen a human who was born with wings. This is why I love Fairy Tail. Every person I meet is as magnificent and fascinating as the last."

[CallMeMisterSmith]

Ben was just glad he made it through the door before Vero, he hated a grand entrance, especially when its all sizzle, no steak.
Sanguin and Raghu had just finished kicking the crap out of each other, now that was always something he could show more of an appreciation for. A hard fought battle to settle any dispute was the norm in Fairy Tail. If they didn't understand your point verbally, maybe you could just beat the understanding into them. Ben chuckled to himself as he stood near the door. Watching intently as the newbie he ran into out front approached Alicia at the bar, roughly the same time Mary arrived back from her latest job. The general word on her was that she was just as beautiful as her plants, and twice as deadly. Although Ben never saw her in action he knew to respect his S-Class wizards.

A commotion broke out over near the table where Vero was putting on his little song and dance routine, Ben was attempting to ignore this when suddenly a loud roar erupted from the ground next to the bar. Out from a small rubble pile "jumped" a young dark-skin girl in green armor, to Ben's memory he didn't recognize her, maybe her just forgot her name. Chloe? Was that it? At this point he didn't care he knew what he had came back to do. Before he could make his way through the sweaty drunken mess of guild members the strange gold glitter that had exploded out of the sky... Vero, again. Had now morphed into a swarm of bees around one particular lady causing her much discomfort, all this going on around Ben had his head spinning. It was then he heard Master Pollux calling out for Yukiko... that was when he saw her.

Upon noticing the tiny, sprite-like figure of the little girl known as Yukiko floating, no actually flying up by the rafters Ben was awestruck. So much so that he walked, mouth agape through the guild and was so transfixed by her flight that he didn't have time to see Zy run him right over. The two collided in a thud of muscle and bone as the two crumbled to a heap on the floor. Funny that they should run into each other, Ben was just about to show his support for the "bee illusion" when Yukikos aerial abilities were put on display. How Ben envied her and her flight, with his weak understanding of Wind magic he himself could barely levitate, let alone fly.

As the two boys lay in a pile on the floor a groan escaped Zy as he rolled over and apologized to Ben. "Don't worry Zy, oddly enough you seem to be the kinda guy who might be willing to help me out." Ben sprung to his feet with a slight quickness in his step and immediately lent a hand to Zy, returning him to his feet. "I don't often believe in coincidences, I feel we ran into each other for a reason." His look turned to a more serious tone as his brow straightened and his voice took on a stern melody. "I know you don't believe about this mess in Haven, but I've read the flyer, and I don't know about you but something doesn't feel right." Zys look on his face said it all "not you too" and Ben could read the apprehension in his eyes."Just hear me out," Ben said. "I just know Gramps wouldn't take down a job request without a god reason I just feel we deserve to know what that reason is. Some of these kids know people in Haven, we cant just let something happen if it is actually a problem we can solve." Now Ben was getting heated, he could still see the disbelief in Zys stare."Listen man, if you dnt think you're strong enough that's fine! But I know I can handle this and I'm gonna find out what Master is hiding, do you think you can keep up?" Ben has his usual childish smile plastered on his face as his competitive streak was getting the best of him. He now stood awaiting Zys reply, "Maybe," he thought "Zy knows another wizard around here who could help, I doubt Gramps could say no to 3 of us going to Haven.

[Drakn Vilex]

Haust was laughing as she gotten angry and then rather pleasant. He definitely was in the right place; a place full of many energetic Wizards. Haust was just holding himself back from the many challenges he could see. He had rather hope there was a heavy drinker in the guild, for he being a 'Pirate' caused his blood to boil when drinking games were called out. His smile never left his face, and when he saw the master he was sure he would be interested in him. He even wondered if anyone would recognize him just from the rumors about his piracy, as well as his feats as a young wizard. Once he saw the master, he walked up to him and gave him a small bow with an outstretched hand to shake his. Fildrek's eyes were locked onto the masters ignoring the commotion even though he wanted to be apart of it so rather greatly. With a cough to clear his throat, He would speak firmly over the ruckus to insure he was heard by the old man,

"My name is Haust Fildrek. I am a wizard from the east coast of Fiore. I was hoping I could join this guild if you would have me. I don't know if you have any interest in Dragon Slayers. But I can guarantee success in my missions for the guild." With a smile on his face that was calm and held back, Fildrek would be waiting for his answer rather patiently by the looks of the guild's young members.

[Rune_Alchemist]

Chloe had ordered herself a drink, well, several of them after she had taken a seat at the bar as per her usual routine. Get to the guild, drink all the alcohol, and then possibly go on a job if she wasn't so drunk she was making holes all over the place while thinking she was fighting a dragon. That was always a riot. Well, until Alicia made her stop because she had no sense of humor. And speaking of the humorless party pooper. Chloe managed a sheepish grin while Alicia berated her for her antics. The green haired girl rubbed the back of her neck as a small amount of embarrassment washed over her. Any embarrassment she felt though, was quickly washed away by the guild master patting her on the head and praising her for her magic. She was of course, not going to tell him she had been aiming for the cellar where they kept the alcohol.

"See Alicia, you need to lighten up a bit!" Chloe boldly stated, her grin getting bigger as she gained confidence from the old mans praising. "Yeah, see, I need to practice. Have someone from the guild fix it or something. That should save you a few jewels!" She chuckled mischievously. However, before she could get a reply, Alicia mentioned something about some girl named Yukiko. She didn't know that name. Was she a new member? Of course, Chloe didn't really keep up with the name of everyone in the guild, so maybe she just didn't know the person that well.

Her thoughts were interrupted as a quiet voice brought her attention towards the ceiling. Chloe looked up, and she saw what could only be described as the most adorable thing she ever saw. A girl, with white wings was floating above them. So this was 'Yukiko', then? Well, she must have been a new member because she would have remembered someone like the little girl. She had to briefly wonder if it was legal for someone to be so adorable. Ignoring the new person who was addressing Master Pollux, Chloe began to address the small girl. Had she come up under this girl?...oops. She should probably apologize.

"Heh, sorry about that!" Chloe called up to the girl. "Thought I was heading for the cellar where they kept all the alcohol! Didn't expect anyone to be there. You alright?" She admitted, right in front of Alicia and the Guildmaster. Ah well, it wasn't like getting a verbal abuse from Alicia was anything new for her. It happened on a daily basis.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~Blue Pegasus Guildhall~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Hmmm. So this is what a mages guild looks like." A rather confident looking woman dressed in a long purpose dress commented as she walked up to the building. 'pathetic'She stood still and surveyed the building, as though she was casing the joint. Well, that was because she was. Acacia Cornet. That was her name, and this guild had something she wanted. For all the guilds talk of keeping the peace and getting rid of dark magical items, they sure liked to hoard them. Kinda reminded her of her parents a bit. They liked collecting magical things. At the thought though, she simply frowned and grumbled to herself, dismissing the thoughts. She needed a way into the guild without arousing suspicion. Easy enough for someone who had a bit of talent in teleportation magic.

In the blink of an eye, the girl was gone. Teleportation magic was a weak magic, but it had its uses when one wanted to move about unseen. With a few uses of this, she had managed to get to where she wanted too without alerting the guild members. The Archives. Now, all she had to do was find the tome and get out without being seen. Should be easy enough to find it. Those fool mages probably didn't even try to protect it from anyone taking it. idiots. You always protect anything of power that you might have, otherwise, someone is going to steal it from you.

Moving quietly through the archives, she found herself looking over several books as she searched for the tome she was looking for. Now that she had the place to herself, she wondered what exactly guild mages read. Most of them weren't anything of great interest to her, but she found it amusing that such things entertained these legal guilds. Ah well, enough fooling around. Quickly, Acacia replaced the book she was holding and walked over to where she believed the tome she was looking for was being held.

[j8cob]

The green-haired woman seemed sad momentarily as Alicia lectured her about the job reward. It was true that they were generally supposed to bring back some money in order to help finance the guild. But Mary perked up when Alicia acknowledged the value of the seed she obtained. "I understand," Mary stated, bowing her head politely toward Alicia. "To make up for this, I will give double the tax on my next job." Like that, the smile returned to her face and Mary was back to being cheerful. Before she could go and bother other people about her recently acquired plant, she heard a scream coming from the other side of the hall. One of the girls that Vero was flirting with seemed to not appreciate it. Upon closer inspection, Mary figured out that it was actually Vy that induced the episode of terror, not the ladies' man. This dictated her target.

As Mary began to walk over to that table, to see the commotion for herself, she heard talk about a 'Yukiko'. Determining this was the little girl she didn't recognize, Mary turned around to find the master and Alicia looking up. Following suit, Mary saw the flying girl. Not that flight was particularly amazing in a world of magic, it was the words that the master spoke that caught Mary's attention. "Natural wings..." Mary muttered, before grinning. This girl was certainly an interesting addition to Fairy Tail. With that mystery solved, Mary turned back to see that Vy had taken off from the table and crashed into Ben. Considering it was accidental, Mary started to approach the two to make sure they didn't get a concussion or anything of the sort.

She arrived just in time to overhear the last part of their conversation. "What is the master hiding?" she spoke once she was next to the two, announcing her presence. Standing next to them, Mary found that she was slightly shorter than the both. But that may also be contributed to her lack of footwear. "Making accusations like that is rude, and conspiring them with only one person is extra rude. Almost like gossip." She put her hands on her hips and looked into Ben's eyes, then shifted her gaze to Vy's. The fierce expression lasted only a few seconds, before she smiled again. "So what are you two doing, exactly?"

[Lugubrious]

Moving around with about as much grace as a toddler in a sculpture gallery, Sanguin trundled about the expansive guild hall in search of her mask. With her fixed on the floor and much of her efforts focused on keeping her head from spinning, she didn't display much regard for anyone in her way. Despite this, she managed not to cause too much commotion as she wandered around. As the passed some of her guildmates -who had never happened to see her face before- noticed that she was without her mask and occasionally made an accompanying remark. One sharp-nosed, redheaded girl named Agitha, ventured to comment that the mask suited her better, but Sanguin ignored her. Later, after she'd found her property, she'd pay her back for the slight. Nobody seemed to be in a rush to help her recover the headgear (not even Raghu, though given his condition it was understandable) but that sat just fine with her. Neither Mary nor Chloe nor the angelic young Yukiko distracted her from the task at hand.

About fifty seconds later, Sanguin both felt better and had glimpsed a familiar salmon-and-maroon-colored shape on the floor by Fairy Tail's main entrance. “Finally!” She exclaimed before breaking into a short run to seize her quarry. Just then, a familiar woman about her own age interposed herself in Sanguin's path. Recuperated enough from her earlier brawl to be able to control herself, the Blood Moon Child stopped abruptly. Before the words 'Watch it!' could escape from her lips, Sanguin observed her obstacle's broccoli-green hair, her sunflower pin, and her brilliantly red, form-fitting qipao. Boyce. Oh, joy.

Sanguin silenced herself and stiffly skirted around the plant wizard. Brought back to reality by the brief encounter, she closed the remaining few feet before stooping to pick up her mask from beside a table leg. With it replaced, the shapeshifter looked out at the world through the eyes of a wolf once more, even in human form. As she straightened it, relying on the impressions its edges had made on her face over the months to restore it to its usual orientation, she caught Mary's question. Turning around partially, Sanguin witnessed her face cast in a ferocious glare for a split second before it melted away. Such an inquiry seemed to Sanguin to be even more nosy and pretentious than usual, especially considering that she was addressing Ben and Zy. While they had never been close, Sanguin could easily recall from experience that Ben was easygoing and childish while Zy struck her as a prankster and an attention-seeker. Neither warranted such an inquisition...did they?

She took a seat at table that her mask had been under to listen.

[Symphonia]

Issabella Anne Carrington
Izzy (Reaper)

Location: Outside of Fairy Tail
Attire: Left // Mood: Happy

Izzy walked casually down the roads of Fiore, heading back to her beloved guild after what had been several months. She looked, as usual, out of place; dressed like royalty, covered in tattoos of unknown origin, a large and rather abnormal scythe in tow. No guild mark was visible, so it was always anyone's guess what the young woman was after or where she came from. She had once again taken a mission of both high risk and high reward, mostly due to the subject matter. It involved a multitude of dark guilds and the kidnappings of various children for reasons that had been unknown. Every time she recalled it however, she would get flashbacks of her childhood, and deemed the mission no longer necessary to think about or speak about to others. Due to the high pay out, she was rather happy that she had taken the mission, along with several side missions that popped up along the way. The guild had been lacking funds lately, and not as many jobs had been taken. On her way back from the mission, she had heard about some kind of job posting that had been ripped down from the Fairy Tail mission board, all upon stumbling across the scene of a murdered individual. She had heard rumors about this mission, but it seemed as though no one believed what was being said in the flyers. Regardless, she ended up lingering around that area for a while to figure out more about this mission and the mysterious deaths they had been having.

As she neared the entrance of her guild, she saw a young boy being bullied by what seemed like two slightly older individuals. He coward in a corner while the other mages used what she would considered rather pathetic magic spells on him. One of the mages, preferring just to beat him up the old fashioned way. "P-please, leave me alone, I'm sorry I'll do whatever you want!" the voice whimpered below them. Izzy felt her blood boiling as she ran over to the little bastards. "How about I give you a taste of some real magic?" she said in a rather eerie tone, raising her scythe for dramatic effect. "Hey lady...what do you think you're doing?" Issabella smiled rather viciously, "Pain." she said, as she wrote the runes with her scythe. One of the boys then fell to his knees and started screaming in agony. Immediately, the other two turned around and started to run. "AGONY!" she shouted, as the others grabbed their head and rocked back and forth on the floor. Izzy then turned her attention to the boy on the ground who was now nearly in shock, and offered her hand to him, "It's okay sweetie, I am not going to hurt you, I promise."He looked at the other boys and started shaking, unable to move. Izzy looked back at them and then gave a reassuring look to the boy. "Don't worry, they aren't physically harmed, they will be fine. It's all in their heads, now get up you."

The boy grabbed her hand and she pulled him up gently, brushing off the dirt which was on his clothes. "You're a sweet kid, I can tell. However, don't ever let people bully you like that, you have to learn to defend yourself or it will never stop. Now go home, and rest." The boy nodded and turned around running off to what she could only assume was home. She looked at the boys still on the ground and gave them a wave "If I ever see you again, I'll kill you!" she said playfully. Izzy was rather annoyed as she walked away, she had held back on the boys immensely, but as children the pain would have felt quite immense, and she was satisfied with that. Issabella was curious what kind of people had joined Fairy Tail while she was away. She was particularly fond of the new mages that were eager to learn and thirsty for direction. This kind of attitude was often lost in higher ranked mages, as they thought they knew everything and they were stronger than the next guy, already. Izzy went through life always telling herself she needed to get better. There was always someone stronger somewhere, and she always needed to be ready for that person should she encounter them.

Izzy spent a lot of her time off training somewhere, whether it be at Fairy Tail or otherwise. It was something she was quite obsessive over since she was younger. She would push herself to the point of exhaustion or fainting, but because of this she was also the most rapidly growing mage the guild had ever had. Though some had argued, one of the most stupid. When Izzy walked through the door she didn't say a word to draw attention to herself, she listened to the voices of the mages within, and watched the colors that hovered through the room that accompanied the sounds. Izzy always had the odd ability to see sounds in color, something which she still found fascinating herself. Sometimes, she would stand back and paint an abstract image in her mind with the colors that float about the room. It was a large mixture of colors tonight, many new colors she hadn't seen in the guild which would mean new members. For a brief second as she walked towards the guild leader, she saw a winged girl surrounded by a pale yellow color. She smiled, at the beautiful canvas in which the girl's wings were painting. "Gorgeous." she said, "I rarely see that color anymore." She then turned her attention to her guild leader, nodding at Alicia as well. She had never really liked the girl, mostly due to how she would not open up with any of her guild members, and was so secretive. However, she would still protect her with her life.

"Hopefully this helps since everyone is deciding to be extra lazy lately." she said, handing over a large bag of currency that totaled over four hundred thousand. "You should make everyone get off of their asses once and a while." She sighed, and then brought up what she had been stressing over all the way here. "I hear you brought down a particular mission not too long ago, I want to know why. Don't worry, I checked it out anyways, and I am not seeking your permission. I just want your reasoning." Izzy leaned against her scythe and continued to watch the sounds while also observing the guild members. She saw many new faces, along with many old ones. The typical brawling and bickering along with the normal teasing. Naturally a lot of drinking. Izzy had never touched anything that wasn't water in her life, generally looking down on those who found themselves to be 'drunk'. Although she treasured Fairy Tail, and was an S rank mage, she never really got close to anyone in the guild nor made any friends. Only a few people knew her name, although most of those people only know her by Reaper, and not Izzy or Issabella. Every mission she had ever went on, even while lower ranked, had been on her own; although that is how she preferred to do missions. She always dreaded the thought of being stuck in a team.

[Marc]

Inside the darkest archives of the Blue Pegasus guild, where only the most fearful of dark magics were kept, an empty spot was on the shelf where a particular tome of great power should have been. No doubt this would have caused confusion to Acacia, who may be wondering if the Guild was expecting her. Of coarse, they weren't. There was no reason to suspect an intrusion, so thus no reason for the tome to have been removed. Before Acacia could question it any further, a voice spoke from the shadows.
"Are you looking for this?" the voice was high pitched and sounded more like a dying animal than a person. The sound of slow, heavy footsteps approached Acacia and when she turned around she saw a young man holding the tome she was searching for in his hands. "We've been looking for you a long time, Miss Cornet. Master has been punishing us for so very long because we could not track you down." When the man spoke, wisps of black hair gently floated and drifted away from his mouth. These wisps also laced his entire body, like a systems of intricicate veins running all over him. His eyes were completely blank. The mans head began to twitch, and suddenly his body spazzed out into a fit of screams. He banged his head against the wall, practically crying.
"We've found you! We've found you! No more pain for us. No more punishments! We will make sure." He was growing angrier with every word, turning to face Acacia with the thin laces of darkness coming from his mouth thickening into tendrils. These tendrils charged at the tome that was now on the floor, wrapping it up tightly before pulling it towards the man's mouth. His mouth stretched out to an unnatural size, swalling the tome and the tendrils whole.
"Meet us outside! We will give you the tome there!" Before Acacia could respond, the man keeled other and began to cough up the thick, dark tendrils in large quantities. When they hit the ground, they scattered once more and seeped into every nook and cranny they could fit into; leaving nothing behind but the empty shell of the Blue Pegasus member that now lay lifeless in front of Acacia.

----------------

Zy really wasn't in the mood to be taunted; especiallty by Ben of all people. With a quick motion, Zy grabbed him by the collar and readied his right hand back to swing at him. He was ready to knock that stupid grin off of his face. He would have done it, if not for Mary interrupting the two of them to butt in on their business.
"Buzz off, Boyce." Zy growled, but immedietely regretted snapping at Mary. She could be somewhat annoying, but she'd done nothing to warrant being spoken to in such a way. Not to mention she could destroy Zy if she wanted to. "Sorry, I'm just... nevermind." He let go of Ben, folding his arms over his chest just as he spotted Sanguin sitting at a table near them.
"Ben thinks that we should try and convince Master Pollux let us go on the mission he took down because obviously Ben knows much better than our Master." He wasn't even trying to hide the malice in his tone at this point. He had no reason to be so defensive over the Master, since Ben hadn't actually said anything against him. He was just annoyed. He had grown up with Master Pollux and had a great deal of respect for the man, and it was an unspoken rule in Fairy Tail that anyone who spoke ill of the Master would receive a wallop from just about everyone in the Guild. He was a great man who many admired.
"If you really respect the Master's decision to remove that quest, then I suggest you give it back to him with an apology for being a nosy little klepto. And even if he does let you go on the quest, I don't want any part of it. Find someone else." He began to walk away from them, pointing a thumb back at Sanguin. "Ask her. If she has nothing better to do than eavesdrop on conversations than I'm sure she won't mind hunting a monster that doesn't even exist." Zy stormed away, taking a seat at the bar where Alicia was sitting. Alicia had long since given up on scolding Chloe or trying to talk sense into her Grandfather. For now she would just try and get all of her work done in quiet.
"Everyone in this guild just pisses me off," Zy remarked, resting his head on the bench to sulk.
"Preaching to the choir, Zy." Alicia bluntly remarked, continuing with her work as if nothing had happened.

Meanwhile Pollux was admiring Yukiko's interesting gift before he was removed from thought by a young man claiming to be a dragon slayer. Pollux chuckled, patting the young man on the shoulder.
"Aren't you the young fellow that took down that giant crab, or something of the sorts?" Pollux remembered reading of that story. Dragon Slayers were always a particular interest of the old man. "A pirate that uses lost magic. Now that takes me back." Pollux looked off into the distance, a little saddened by something. "Oh, forgive me. Just remembering an old friend that I haven't seen in a very long time. She's a pirate, like you. Now then, if you wish to join then I suppose I should rewrite the announcement I had planned." Pollux was interrupted by Isabella coming up to him from finishing a request and begin talking about the Haven request he thought he had removed.
"I'm going to start needing to magically seal my office door from you people." He sighed, smiling to the new member through his whiskers. "As for you, Izzy, you go away for such a long period of time and this is the first thing you say to me when you come back? I'm a little offended. All work and no play makes Izzy a very dull girl." The master joked. He knew her real name, but figured that she preferred the nickname. She was a rather independent person. Not that he could blame her.
"Now as for that request, there's really no story to it at all. I put it up, then Alicia told me that the Magic Council has ordered us to cancel it. They said that they had sent their Rune Knights to 'control the situation'. When will the council learn that we wizards should be working together with the Rune Knights to help better our nation?" Pollux shook his head, taking a seat on a stool. "Just in case I think I will organise a small party to go and help out. My old friend Zephyr on the Magic Council can bail us out if needed. Remembering so many old faces all in one day? It must be a sign." The master laughed, but the tone behind his voice suggested that reuiniting with his old friends from his days as just a regular mage of the guild would make him incredibly happy.

Yukiko began to gently move back towards the ground, her wings giving one final thrust before curling up behind her. She landed with a small thud in front of Chloe, eyeing the girl up and down before taking a step back. She almost stepped back into the hole.
"You smell like fresh soil and soft grass." She remarked, her wings fluttering a little. "Um, I'm Yukiko. I like the smell of fresh soil and soft grass." She smiled up at Chloe, taking a step closer to her now that the initial shock of the girl coming up from the earth had settled.

[CallMeMisterSmith]

As Zy stormed away with a rather perturbed look on his face, obviously not having the best of mornings, Ben was left with a small audience. He was lost in his own thoughts for a moment, he wondered what had Zy on edge, Mary was being her usual self, never meaning to pry, always doing so. She brushed her hair away from her face as the upset mage stormed past her toward the bar and took his seat with a resounding thud. Ben shook his head and looked over at the not-so vacant table adjacent to where he was standing. Sanguine sat, seemingly interested, she was one still so unfamiliar to him, and he was oblivious to her proximity until Zy called her out.

.Reaper.... Now there is a presence Ben couldn't ignore. For some reason she was one of the few mages he could actually sense. Strange really, because she was never around, yet the aura he picked up on when she was around could give her away for miles. He knew she was back in Magnolia, he could feel it. Ben still wasn't sure how but he figured it had something to do with her intense amount of magical power. Still very few mages gave off this kind of "scent" and he was always curious the rare occasions she came around. "Now There is a mage who can get things done" he thought to himself.

"Well Mary I'm aware you just came back from a job, and I did hear about your whole tax evasion issue" he said jokingly with a smile. "So by my math you owe 30 percent off your next payment?" Before Ben could finish his statement Master Pollux spoke up.

"Now as for that request, there's really no story to it at all. I put it up, then Alicia told me that the Magic Council has ordered us to cancel it.....Just in case I think I will organise a small party to go and help out.

So Ben had his questions answered right there! "I knew it couldn't be the Masters doing," he thought. "He knows we could have handled something like this, and if the Council is involved I really don't like the smell of this"
"So Mary, you heard the Master... interested in making up that tax? Whatever the council is trying to pull calling in the Rune Knights and leaving us out of the action, doesn't seem right. You too Sanguine, maybe the master would welcome a small party of mages trying to help out the Knights in Haven." Ben didn't wait for an answer, he walked toward the area where Master Pollux made the announcement.
"If you are looking for capable mages, I'm in Master! I want to help the town of Haven!" The excitement and fervor in his voice was noticeable. "Ah yes, so YOU are the sneaky mage poking through my things?" Pollux chucked and then a short sigh escaped his whiskers. "You're getting far to curious for your own good my boy, but I must say I'm certainly not going to send you to Haven all by yourself. The Rune Knights would never be willing to cooperate with a guild whose only help can be spared in the form of one mage!. We will require a small unit to investigate. I respect the decision of the council however my own worries give me cause to send a few of you check on the place."

Ben took the criticism, ready to hear the Masters final decision on who would be going to Haven. He knew he may have been forward and hot headed, and was just hoping the master saw his excitement, and ignored the disrespect.

" Maybe if I can just get myself to Haven. Maybe it is there. But first, I have to find it."

[Lugubrious]

Though Zy spoke the truth when he accused Sanguin of eavesdropping, she cared far less about any potential rudeness her guildmates might have gleaned from her -even she even acknowledged it at all- than she did about the younger wizard talking smack. “F*** you buddy,” she shouted at the back of his head, rising to her feet with enough force to almost knock the table over.

She might have continued, perhaps followed him to punctuate her displeasure with a smack to the face, when the voice of Pollux, whom even Sanguin admired, cut across the guild hall. While his succinct explanation enlightened Sanguin a little, she still didn't have much of a clue what was going on; having not paid attention before, she was about as clear as mud on the issue. What she did understand, however, was that she might be needed. Before she could reply, Ben moved off in the direction of the grandmaster, leaving her to follow him. A hint if annoyance troubled her, for it seemed that Ben had invited her on some scheme only to immediately ignore her by walking off.

As Ben sidled up to Pollux, Sanguin wasn't far behind. Standing in front of Fairy Tail's leader and a few of his closest comrades wasn't something she was used to. Being among the other B-class wizards suited her better, and the company of lower-class wizards pleased her as well. Never one much for formalities, she launched into conversation directly following Pollux. “Don't send him alone then. Let me go too. I'm dying to maim something, but even a fresh of breath air will help, yeah? I mean, breath of fresh...you know.” Somewhat embarrassed, she ran her fingers through her short, black hair, trying to scratch an itch that didn't exist. “And anyway, the other members of my team still aren't back from that escort job.” The job in question had been taken by her team, the Wild Bunch, only a day ago, and Fairy Tail's physician had cautioned her not to go on account of a blow to the back of the head she had received the day before.

[Rune_Alchemist]

Fresh soil and soft grass? That was the nicest thing anyone had ever said to her. She gave Yukiko a chuckle and gave her a pat on the head. "Heh, you're pretty cute. Name's Chloe. If ya ever need help with something, I'll give ya a hand." Chloe paused, cracking her knuckles with a mischievous grin. "Or, you know, give anything that messes with ya a...hand, too." After that, she picked up the mug that had been sat on the bar as she introduced herself to Yukiko, immediately chugging the alcoholic contents. "Ah man," she sighed setting the mug back down. "Best way to start the day right there." With that, she turned to the group that had suddenly seemed to spring up around the headmaster. Something about some job or something. It looked like there were already quite a few takers, and she wondered if she should volunteer too. She could use the money after all. Ah well, might as well see what all the commotion about.

"Hey, hey!" She started, giving all of the ones currently gathered a friendly grin. "Did someone say something about maiming something? I need something to do or I might drill a few more holes in the building for fun." Chloe shot a playful grin over to Alice as she said that.

[Symphonia]

Issabella Anne Carrington
Izzy (Reaper)

Location: Outside of Fairy Tail
Attire: Left // Mood: Annoyed and concerned

Izzy considered that perhaps the old man wasn't telling the truth at first, however, there would have been no real reason for him not to. Regardless, it didn't even matter. All that mattered was this was a problem that needed a solution, and it needed it a long time ago. "At least some of us need to be productive members of society." she responded to his remark. She then watched as several mages approached them jumping on the Haven bandwagon. They were all younger or inexperienced mages, and while she genuinely liked the determined and hard working new recruits, or middle ranked mages, it was that same kind of starry eyed need to please and impress that got people killed. There was definitely dark magic involved in the latest killing, while it could be an easy job, it could also turn out to be a difficult and quite hazardous one. "Because you so conveniently gave into the magic counsels whims, we don't really know what we're dealing with now, do we?" Izzy was not going to sit around and wait for the old man to give her an order to go investigate, nor was should going to sit around long enough to be assigned mages to babysit. She turned around and headed towards the bar to get a quick bite of food off of someone's plate, before heading out of the guild once more.

If dark magic is actually involved, and multiple dark mages are involved, they are in for a real wake up call.