---

Secrets of the blood that once left checkered paintings on it’s body of bricks and neglected pavement roads. Secrets of chalk outlines, small enough to shatter a man’s heart like sugar glass. Secrets of what the moon witnesses nightly as it roams the distance, remote and isolated from the brunt of man.

Then again, the city would be in far too much pain for only a whisper. No. Most definitely the city would cry out in agony. Screams that mimic the sirens of an ambulance, or the anguished sobs of a loved one. The evils of man vocalized into a single shrill howl. Wouldn't that be the voice of the city?

Often Ajax found himself wondering what exactly was worth protecting. Was it better to let man revel in violence, or to witness the numbers dwindle at the hands of primitive beasts? Was it better to kill, or to watch with indifference as the innocent met their demise? He had experienced it once before. There was no way he could sit back and watch. But every life that expired by his own hands took another vicious bite out of him. He was getting tired.

“What would you do, Mirra?” The words were soft-spoken, and indirect. He found each syllable escaping his lips as almost a reflex for moments like these. Times when he was alone, perched on the edge of his intricate stone balcony. Like a king surveying his kingdom, Ajax spent the nights resting on his elevated stoop, a bottle of beer in his hands and the rich scent of hobs tantalizing his senses.

From his throne atop the guild hall, he could see the City of San Clemente in it’s entirety. A place that coddled him in his youth, only to ultimately betray him. Still, no where else would he call home than the portrait in front him, painted on a canvas of high earthy mountains and a sea of evergreens. San Clemente was once a small, quiet town inhabited by no more than a few thousand people. It’s existence was eventually eyed by large corporate groups who wanted to create a bustling tourist attraction. Once the money-hungry aristocrats made their move, businesses began to blossom from the ground up.

Now, more often than not, you’ll see the sidewalks cluttered with tourists in the day time. However, it isn’t until night that the city comes alive. Thugs seep from the shadows to roam the streets, often dragging mayhem behind them like a wicked blanket. Business men frolic in the blind-eye of their families, making their marks on under-ground brothels, and sulking off to bars afterwards to drown their sins in decadent poison. Those who seemed so humble and innocent in the light of the early afternoon now spend their nights dancing with gluttony and lust.

This is the affect that the city has on weak souls, and precisely the reason why Ajax had relocated the Guild Hall to a remote location. Peace and quiet was of utmost importance. Now he sits atop his tower in serenity—the building of which is precisely that. A tower.

Built on the seam where the forest meets San Clemente’s soul-sucking realm, the Blue Empire Guild Hall watches over the region. It’s height peaks above the treetops, while still remaining generally hidden from society. Though it looks large, there are no more than a few levels—the very top of which is Ajax’s domain. Rarely, he lets anyone into his territory, but on the rare occasion that they are allowed his room, an uneasy balance rests in the air. Not many people could relax at such a height. To Ajax, however, there’s nothing more comfortable than standing atop a precipice.

That’s why it came as a surprise to him when he heard the subtle knock on his door.



“You gonna open the door or not, boss man?” Geraldine had been waiting far too long. After trudging all this way in high-heels, suffering through the claustrophobia of the crowded – and grungy at that – elevator, Ajax still had the nerve to make him wait.
Finally, the gruff and irate looking man opened the door. His build was tall enough to block the doorway, and his exasperated stare struck a nerve with Geraldine.

“You’re mad at me? I agreed to be your Officer, not your errand boy. Feel free to get them yourself next time.” He hissed, extending the manila envelope in his hand.

Ajax took it, expelling air from his nostrils. He dumped out the stack of papers that Geraldine had worked so hard to organize, and flipped through them carelessly, mangling the edges and ruining their perfectly coordinated order. He gave them only a glance, ripping one from the stack and crushing it in his masculine hand. He’d throw the crumpled ball over his shoulder with little regard to where it had landed.

“That one’s not worth out time. The rest will do.”

Heavy boots wavered the hardwood beneath their feet as Ajax stepped out of the elevator. The first floor was public area for the guild. Relaxing furniture, high definition televisions, and row upon row of cluttered bookshelves. In the center of the room was the dining area. Benches formed long lines atop linoleum floors, a blazing fireplace in the center of the wall. It was guild regulation to never let the fire out. If by chance, the flame were to be extinguished, one would be expected to re-light it as soon as possible.

Ajax called it the ‘Eternal Flame’ and it was not so much for comfort as it was a tribute to those who had lost their lives on bounty missions. Just above the fireplace hung monochromatic portraits of members who had met such a fate. Just below their photos were displayed various weapons, ranging from metal pipes to worn machetes. They hadn’t been touched in years, and sat collecting dust.

His heart felt heavy, every time Ajax would pass the eternal flame. It was a difficult task, but necessary. To the adjacent wall is displayed a large tack-board, with a few bounties remaining from last week’s runs. The rest had been ripped from the wall, leaving behind only small corner-scraps. Ajax removed each piece of paper from his stack, tacking them to the wall in order from easiest to hardest. He always felt a bit uneasy about adding the 5-star bounties, though they were rarely chosen.
“Listen up.” His voice could shake a room if such volume was required. “Bounties are up. I want this list cleared by the end of the week. As always, you’ll need my permission before attempting the 5-star. Understood?”

The 5-star bounties were a treacherous task, and if they were ever selected, Ajax would need to make sure they had an adequate team. Often he wished he could rip them from the wall before anyone caught sight. Doing that, though, would mean he didn’t have confidence in his team. That was not the matter at hand. They were a powerful bunch. But after all, they were his. And it was his decision that could mean their triumph or their downfall.

“Put me down, you ass-clowns!”

Josephine was being quite literally swept off of her feet. The two broad masculine arms lifted her from the ground by her elbows—and quiet easily at that. Flushed and furious, she kicked at the air, but her small physique was no match for the gorilla-like buffoons that dared manhandle her so. They carried her to the nearest exit, and with a quick heave, sent her flying onto the dirty sidewalk pavement.

“Kellon!” She screeched as she spotted the stains scattered about on her fresh white summer dress. “What the hell is your problem?”

A tall, slender – and in her own personal opinion – stupid looking man swaggered his way towards her, a giant grin plastered on his face, and two backstabbing hands sheathed in his jacket pockets.

“Can you blame me? I’ve wanted you out since day one, and you knew that when I was elected leader.”

He was right. She had a feeling this would happen once her old guild leader resigned from his post. She had just hoped she’d have time to get a steady job before quite literally getting thrown out on her ass.

“It really pays to be the leader’s son, doesn't it?” She spit with venomous words, watching as her luggage was tossed on to slick wet sidewalks beside her. “You really can’t take competition.”

“Competition?” He let out a croaky laugh, a crooked grin splitting across his face. His polished black shoe came down on Josephine’s luggage, and with the twist of his ankle, he began to grind the filth of his shoe onto her precious pink bunny travel bag.

How fucking dare he.

“You think you were competition, Josephine? A healer who won’t heal because she’s too busy getting in the way?” He gave her bag a swift kick, sending it skimming across the wet cement and into the busy city streets.

Unintentionally, Josephine puffed her cheeks out—an involuntary habit that would become a noticeable tell every time she was at her boiling point. She could feel the rage on her face, boiling her skin like lava.

“Give me my mace!” She shouted, unintentionally collecting the attention of every stranger in proximity. Her precious mace was tossed to her feet by one of the muscular goons, clinging against the hard cement with a rattle.

Kellon turned on his heels and let out a satisfied chuckle as he returned to the safe confines of the guild hall. The doors were closed firmly behind him, leaving her alone in the late night rush. Josephine prayed to god that would be the last time she’d see his stupid, ugly face. She didn't need the Rising Knights guild. They ranked far too low on the charts for her liking. They were only a place to stay and an income.

Reaching into her jacket pocket, she returned with only a fistful of lint and an old rusty penny. She had a tenancy her earnings the moment she received them, and the habit was finally biting her in the ass.

With little concern for her safety, she danced through traffic, and into the middle of the street, shortly returning with her muddy luggage. Dragging it along behind her, she walked the sidewalks of this filthy city, hoping to find a dry and warm area for her to temporarily sleep. As the rain began to pick up, pelting her in the skull with every oncoming drop, she found refuge in the safety of a bus-stop bench. Hugging her damp and ruined luggage to her chest, she let out an exasperated sigh.

This hadn't been the first time she found herself homeless. It probably wouldn't be the last.

---

---

Sapphire eyes fluttered open at the sound of shoes scathing the cement nearby. Who in their right mind would be waiting for a bus at this hour?

She followed the noise with a curious gaze, eyeing the man who stood a mere foot away. Lighting a cigarette so close?

This asshole.

The smoke cleared quickly, but the slightest stench was enough to cause her nose to wrinkle.

“What do you want?” She muttered with every bit of composition she could muster. She was damp, and it was cold. Of course she’d be fighting chills. But how silly would it be, trying to talk tough when your teeth are chattering away? She relaxed her muscles and let out a bothersome sigh. “If you’re planning on mugging me, you’re wasting your time. This is all I have.” With the flick of her thumb, she sent the penny flipping through the air to roll and spin erratically at her feet.

Then again, this man was well-dressed. Tall, slim and with a face that was far too intense for her to have not noticed around before. Still.

Her arms constricted around her soggy fabric luggage. Her pretty dresses were the only material possessions she’d have left. Posh attire or not, she wasn’t taking any chances.

---

---

Josephine’s wasn’t entirely sure whether to be disgusted or intrigued, so she simply stood to her feet and peered with furrow brows at the stranger’s calm complexion. This seemed like the kind of situation her mother had warned her about—at least back when she considered her a mother. A stranger approaching her on the damp, ominous city streets… and to top it all off, offering her money?

By his clothing alone, she struck up an assumption.

“If it’s a bar you work at, I’m far too young.” She had to crane her neck back to eye the man who’s height towered over her own. “And over-qualified.”

---

---

Josephine’s breath hitched in her throat. She had heard of Blue Empire. Of course she had heard of Blue Empire. The Rising Knights absolutely despised Blue Empire. Kellon talked often about wanting to dethrone them from their god-like status.

Biting her lip to disguise her growing excitement, she raised a suspicious brow.
“You belong to Blue Empire? And you’re saying you can get me in?”

Whether it was a scam in the works or a legitimate offer, it was a plunge she had to take. She was far too young to be living on the streets again.

“Okay.”

"6th One"

Aella muttered as a large punching bag soared across the building, It found it's home in someone's noggin, Leaving a nasty bruise on the person's head, However, The person was either too scared or too tired to care, Business was a bit slow, And on top of that, people were too exhausted to even get up from the seat they were residing on, Even the person that just got injured, rose from the ground and shuffled to his seat, Like the flying punching bag incident never transpired.

Aella, on the other hand was quite excited. Of course she looked at the board right when she entered, Especially at the request to slay the Nandi Bear. The reward was quite immense, And she wasn't going to pass up the opportunity. She also glanced at the other jobs, But they didn't really peak her interest, Killing an over-sized snake and soul-sucking wolf sounded like a good way to pass time, But their rewards were less then appealing, With a small team, She would be more then happy to take them both on, But, The Nandi Bear's reward was more then the two bounties combined, So that shifted to her top priority, Of course she needed a team, But Blue empire had a few members that would suffice. She almost always forgot about the tax, 10% off every reward is used for maintaining the guild, But this time she didn't really mind, The reward was so large that 2000 dollars seemed like a small price, if she at least got some funds out of it, bragging about partaking in the hunt of this beast didn't seem half-bad either.

As Aella thought about the things she would purchase with the money, A intimating man sat on the podium and spoke, Ajax is a man that is well respected by his enemies and his allies, And Aella was no exception, As always, Aella listened to every word he said and clung to them. After his speech, Aella got right to work, She hung up the 7th punching bag and started rapidly hitting it.

She forgot about getting permission, Of course she got accepted to participate in one other 5-star, but she didn't do much, She wasn't really able to get that close to the target, Making her get a minimal share of the reward, But this time she would get the crushing blow.

It's kind of funny, Aella doesn't train to get stronger, She trains to gain more control over her magic, The last time she went all out, She was in a wheel chair, She broke her left arm and wrist, And both her legs refused to function, It was quite devastating. Aella, at least she got a large share of the reward, but she wasn't able to participate in missions for 4 weeks, Surviving on cup noodles and cheap cans of soda.

She recently recovered, And she finally got back into the swing of things, And was more then eager to partake in another mission, Money, Respect, Strength, She wanted all of it. And she wasn't going to back down on that 5 star mission.

"7th one"

A punching bag soared through the air, Flying into the direction of an arbitrary guild member, Hopfully they didn't care, Because Aella sure didn't.

Tiny lights and sounds emitted from the electrical device being played in a man’s hands as he laid on the bench, facing upwards towards the ceiling. His eyes showcased a surprising amount of concentration despite the fact that his body was completely relaxed and at ease. Kayle had been trying to beat the level on his game, “World of Warriors”, for some time now. Each time he got to the boss he managed to screw it up, and sure enough just as he was getting that little bit farther than he had ever gotten, the electronic equivalent of ‘Wah wah wah’ sounded. Kayle sighed, letting the game fall to his chest as his arms fell over the side of the bench and touched the floor.

Nope...not touching you for at least another ten minutes. Kayle thought as he stared up at the ceiling, looking over just in time to see a punching bag smack another member of the guild into the floor. His eyes peered over for a second, recognizing Aella and giving a slight smirk. Not the safest way to pass one’s time when in the presence of others, but he would be damned if that wasn’t funny. It wasn’t long after that moment that their illustrious leader came down from his high tower to present them with the latest info on new targets. Kayle pulled out his phone as the man demanded that they be done by the end of the week. He pressed a few buttons, got into his online banking, and a grimace appeared on his face. That low already? What the hell have I been buy-....right, games. Kayle thought to himself as he slipped his phone into his pocket once more and sat up from the bench.

With his funds in question, it wasn’t whether he wanted to do a bounty at the current moment, but which one. He slowly stood up, stretching his arms slightly as he made to walk over to the board. There was a brief moment, out of the corner of his eye that he saw something flying his way, and took a casual step back as yet another punching bag came flying through the air. It missed him by inches, his bangs actually fluttering from the force as he watched it sail into a wall. It was funny when it was happening to other people, not so much him. “Not that I don’t appreciate someone keeping me on my toes, but maybe your energy would be better spent doing something productive...like punching bouncers...or wrestling an alligator.” Kayle remarked dryly at the small woman before continuing his trek towards the board.

There weren’t too many people around it, the general atmosphere at the guild seeming to be at a low level today. Maybe a few stories of victory would cheer everyone up by the end of the week, if they were lucky. He ended up standing next to...some woman that he couldn’t place the name of. He hadn’t seen her around much, and he liked to think that he was fairly observant of everything around him. Maybe she was new, or maybe she stayed to herself. Now the name thing was going to bug him for awhile, but he had another problem on his mind.

“Bitch, bird, wolf, snake or...does that seriously say ‘Nandi Bear’?” Kayle asked out loud to no one in particular. “Someone apparently lost the game of life when they named that thing.” Kayle stated once more, again his voice relatively low as he more or less talked to himself. As much as he liked the idea of a 230 grand payout on the Nandi bear, which would forever remain in his head as the Big Bad Teddy Bear, he didn’t know enough people to warrant teaming up for it. Most of his jobs up to this point had been solo operations, and many of them within city limits where he could truly utilize his abilities. From what he was going to gather here, there wasn’t really a chance for that with these bounties.

His hand rested on the Amarok creature finally, ripping it from the board and holding it in front of him slightly. “If there’s no arguments, there’s a bank account that needs to be rescued by yours truly.” Kayle folded the parchment and shoved it into an inside pocket on his trench coat before giving a slight nod to the others in front of the bounty board and turning to walk away.

---

"Like ants to a picnic." Geraldine sighed, watching as the bounty board was immediately surrounded by young enthusiastic faces. Dark blue eyes flickered at the sight of a sudden movement, un-phased as Aella's punching bag soared through the room like a poorly executed rocket.

"Hey!" He barked, pointing a manicured finger in her direction. "Do that outside, you heathen!"

It came as little surprise to see Ajax already disappear from sight. He had probably stormed back up to his room the moment Geraldine had turned his attention away. Eagerly searching the area for sight of his co-officer, he let out a dissatisfied grumble. There were 3 people in charge here, and two of them were off avoiding responsibilities. That left Geraldine alone to sort out the mayhem.

"You!" He snapped at Kayle, watching as the boy carelessly ripped a bounty from the board. "If you try at that bounty alone, you're dead! And if the hunt doesn't kill you, I will!"

Honestly. He grumbled to himself, crossing his thin arms under his make-shift bosom. It's not as if Castor would have actually been of any use, but he was at least intimidating. His glare could cut like a knife, and it sure as hell made Geraldine's life easier. After all, the self-expressive drag queen wasn't one to be taken seriously.

Sighing in defeat, he slumped back into the gentle arms of a nearby leather couch. He'd cross one leg over the other best he could in his restrictively tight pencil skirt, and watch as money-greedy hands snatched at the fresh bounties.

Ants are far more organized.

x
x
x
It was routine for Emery to go around the city for a few hours. Well, routine wasn’t a very good word to describe him, as the young man was as disorganized and on a whim as he could be. But he always loved exploring the city before it woke. He usually stayed out for several hours, just enjoying the small freedom as he rode his skateboard, narrowly missing people as they made their way to work and so on.

Despite this, he was currently slumped against a wall of a local convenience store, downing a bottle water. Skating around for a few hours would tire anyone out and Emery was no exception to that rule. Leaning back, he let out a heavy sigh before grabbing his phone and looked at the time. “I should get back.” He was pretty close already, and it would probably a five minute walk if he left now. Standing up, he threw the plastic bottle into one of the trash cans outside of the store and made his way back towards the Guild building, his home. He had been with the guild for a good three years, and even if it were short, he still felt as if they were more family to him than his parents had ever been.

If he had left any later, he would have missed Ajax putting up the bounties. Grabbing his skateboard, he slipped in quietly and watched as he made his announcement. All right, old man. I need some money. While Emery was a frugal person, he still felt safe with payment of a bounty. Afterall, with several years sleeping on the streets you tend to take less for granted. He grinned, wiping his forehead with the back of his hand and bounded over to the board to see which ones he would be able to snag.

As he approached, several others were already there but he squeezed through, tapping his fingers lightly on the Cerastes. The reward was nice, but the thing looked dangerous and a fun fight. His lips turned upwards in a grin as he took a photo of the bounty, noting his roommate was yelling at some guy for ripping the bounty that was a star lower than Emery’s interest. “Geraldine, you’re lack of faith in guild members is kinda insulting.” He teased lightly, glancing at his friend. The two were complete opposites, but that didn’t mean they disliked each other. Though, Geraldine was constantly scolding him for leaving their room a mess.

“Though if anyone wants to team up, I’m cool with it.” He stated this simply before walking away from the board and falling into one of the plush chairs and kicked his feet onto the coffee table.

---

Josephine followed shortly behind this ‘Castor’ person, struggling to keep up with his demanding strides, as well as the broken wheel on her luggage bag that found it’s self constantly snagged on the pavement. Though the rain had stopped, the night air was still nipping at the young girl’s legs. The fact that passing cars flung muddy water at the two, didn’t help with her edgy temper.

How could she have possibly been kicked out of Rising Knights? She was among the best combat fighters, at one point even finding herself at par with the leader. Did she really need magic to belong to a guild? Ugh. How irritating.

None the less, the vibe between her new found guild Officer and herself was stoic and silent. Not so much because she feared to speak, but more-so because she found herself lost in her thoughts. If, in fact, this man was really from Blue Empire, she had just hit the jackpot. However, as she raced over puddles and tripped over her own feet to catch up with him, she found a single question nagging at her relentlessly.

“How did you know I was a mage?” She muttered, curiously. Partly hoping Castor wouldn’t hear, or would choose to ignore her. Socializing was not her strong-point.

"And what are you doing outside of Blue Empire domain? I swear if you're lying about being a member.." The thought easily brought her blood back up to a simmer. "I don't appreciate it when people waste my time."

---

---

To say she was surprised would be an understatement. Josephine stumbled a few feet back, raising her mace to eye level as if she were blocking an attack. Only she wasn’t. Her futile efforts were in fact intended to block the sight of Castor’s bare chest. Call it a reflex of sorts. She was unintentionally using it as a shield, as if the sight of naked man chest could physically harm her. After nothing seemed to happen during the fleeting moments when her eyes were sealed shut - aside from the swooshing sounds of cars as they raced through heavy puddles - Josephine peaked up gingerly from behind her poor excuse for a defensive wall.

The branding burned onto his skin most definitely belonged to Blue Empire. She had seen that logo before—it was a famous icon around guild societies. And she was standing in the midst of an actual Blue Empire officer.

Firstly, she had to compose herself. Praying to the heavens that her complexion wasn’t pinkened by the recent interaction, she raised her chin and promptly cleared her throat.

“Fine then.” She murmured, her tone sing-songy and haughty. “I believe you.”

She made it sound like more of a blessing than a statement, as she stepped on past him and continued on down the damp and deserted city sidewalk. With the size of his leg span, he’d pass her in only a few seconds. For the meantime, it was just a matter of pretending she knew which direction to go.

---

---

“Geraldine, you’re lack of faith in guild members is kinda insulting.”

"Lack of faith?" He scorned, smacking his heels down in haste. "It's in the rules, you gremlin! How long have you been in this guild to have forgotten that?" Nearly tempted to rise and chase the boy down, Geraldine instead turned to face Castor as he made an appearance. Eyeing the young girl at his side, he scoffed with a soft "tch" before quite literally squeezing his way between them and clinging to Castor's arm like a desperate prom date.

"Thank god you're back." He croaked in a brittle, pathetic excuse for a voice. "Ajax? He probably retreated back to his cave to avoid all of this." With long acrylic fingernails, he waved his hands in a dainty circle, stirring at the air. He was of course gesturing to the sudden uprising of energy in the room. Giggling, shouting, drunken laughter. The same deal every Monday. After spending their money so frivolously, everyone was suddenly in a depressing slump, dying to get their hands on the newest bounties. Once they had, celebratory drinks were abundant and it would be days until the volume would dwindle back to a normal decibel.

Supposedly, part of the job was knowing that your life was on the line, and learning to enjoy the fleeting seconds you had during your preparations. Geraldine himself, usually adored taking part in the festivities. More than likely, he'd loosen up after a few expensive drinks. Until then, the noise was giving him a migraine. And he wasn't too satisfied that Castor had brought back yet another cute female recruit.

"Why can't you ever find any ugly ones.."

---

---

---

---

Glancing out of the window in her room, she threw the newest edition to her favorite manga, Horimiya, onto her bed. Her hair was quite unruly at the moment, falling over her face annoyingly. Groaning slightly, she pulled her hair back into her usual pigtails and walked out of her room. She was wearing pajama shorts and a white polka-dotted sweater. Being relatively new to the guild, she was still unsure of what her place was here and everything she had to do. It seemed everyone else was gone at the moment - where, exactly, she had no idea.

Walking down the stairs, she entered the bubbling atmosphere. People were all around the bounty board, talking tentatively. It seemed they were all mostly arguing - but what else could you expect from these guild members? They were out for money, most of them. And Cassie didn't blame them one bit - it's what helped them survive. Pattering over, she slipped between a few people and looked at the board. "Hey guys. Is there anything left?"

Most of the five-star bounties were probably out of her league; too dangerous to look into. Finding as many one-star bounties as possible would bring in a lot of money with little competition. That's probably the best route.

Everything almost immediately started going towards the ‘Hell in a hay basket’ saying sort of way, if he was remembering it correctly. Maybe taking the poster from the board wasn’t the nicest or most polite thing to do, but it was the only way to prevent people from aiming for the same creature he was and possibly fucking up his chance. His chance at a free 36 grand, subtracting the 10% for the guild uptake, was interrupted by Geraldine as he was ordered to take someone along with him. Really? I’ve been doing shit like this longer than some of these guild mates have been aware of their powers. Do we not remember the Minotaur who was using the sewers as his own personal game of cat and mouse? Or what about the Ouroboros snake that was terrorizing a corporate skyscraper? What about the imps?...Actually let’s not remember the imps, that was embarrassing. Kayle thought this to himself as he looked back to see the chaos that was now the contract board.

Another member seemed to pipe up in his defense, and Kayle got a glimpse of a long time guild mate, Emery. Couldn't say he knew the guy personally, but like any other long time member, he made a note to know their names and general information. Fire user if he was correct, at least there was someone out there who wasn’t doubting his ability. Someone was yelling out about sweets, but Kayle wasn’t in the mood for food even if he had needed to eat it. Moving his eyes back towards the board, he contemplated changing his ‘quest’ up if he was going to be forced to bring along someone else, when a charmer decided to take to the stage. Eileen, of course you would do something like that. Kayle thought as he shook his head with a slight smile. Eileen was one of the few people that he would consider a friend in this guild. They had shared drinks a number of times, when Kayle could get past the burning that is, and she was generally fun to have around. He hadn’t done any jobs with her, but today could bring a change to that.

Kayle looked at the paper in his hand, giving a sigh as he looked back up at the crowd in front of the board. There were so many things going on at once that Kayle kind of wondered about the point of it all before deciding that if he needed to have a tag along, they might as well go big. Kayle wandered back up to the board, stabbing his piece of paper back up on it before taking his phone out and snapping a picture of the Nandi Bear. He might have ripped this one down too, if he wasn’t worried that they might not be able to pull it off. Five stars were rated such for a reason, so he wanted to make sure that people would try after them if they were to fail. Next, he wandered over to where Eileen was standing, seeming to talk to the girl whose name was still evading Kayle.

“Circus bear? You make it seem like there’s going to be clowns involved.” Kayle paused for a second, giving a frown. “I hate clowns.” Kayle then gave a light smile to show that he was joking...mostly. He looked over to Eileen. “Hey, if you’re up for murdering a massive teddy bear made of hate and spite, let’s get this show on the road.” Kayle stepped up onto the table, standing over top of the crowd. He shook his hands to the side slightly before bringing them into a clap.

Blue lightning sparked from them, creating a loud but not deafening crack that he hoped had grabbed everyone’s attention. “Alright fellow creators of a loud and chaotic guild hall.” Kayle started, looking at everyone. “Myself, and evidently these two lovely ladies to my side are looking to take on the five star bounty, aka the ‘Nandi Bear’.” Kayle said looking over everyone. “We’ll be taking my car to the mountainside to look for this beast, but unfortunately my car only has enough room for 4 plus a driver.” Kayle wiped his hands off on his trenchcoat slightly as tiny sparks flew from his fingers. “So, counting Eileen and…” Kayle looked down at the girl who he still didn’t know. “This...one, that leaves two spots open. If you want in, find the black Subaru with the spoiler and raised hood out in the parking lot. We’ll be waiting there. First come, first serve.”

With that finished, Kayle hopped down and started walking towards the door, eager to simply get moving. He looked back at Eileen and the other girl, motioning for them to follow.

“Coming?” Kayle stated more than asked as he started walking towards the door. He passed by Castor and what appeared to be a new girl on his way out, giving a polite nod as he did so. “Castor.” Kayle stated in greeting, making his way out the door.

Making his way out the door revealed a rather dark night, but that was most likely for the best. The Nandi bear would hopefully be out hunting if that were the case, and their chances of finding it would go up if only because they would then become it’s prey. Not exactly a reassuring plan. Kayle walked away from the front doors, towards a small parking lot where his black Subaru was parked. He reached into his coat pocket, pressing the button on his key chain to unlock the doors with a click of the car’s lights. With that being done, he leaned against the hood of his car and pulled out his game once more as he waited for people to show up.

This time...this time I will kill you King of Suffering! Kayle thought to himself as his game lit up and started broadcasting sounds of sword clashes and frantic yelling.

"Perfect....."

After a long excruciating hour of hitting the bag, She didn't really know what was going on, Of course, She got to her 30th bag, The punching bad projectiles doing more harm then good, Before a brave guild member decided to tell her off, But she still was clueless to what was occurring, Random people were just entering and exiting in a terrifying frenzy.

As for Aella, She of course wanted to kill the bear thing , But...She didn't know where to go, Sadly...She was really confused, "Ah....What to do?.." Aella mumbled, She, of course, Could tag along with a party, But she was a bit sore, Any large-scale mission would take quite the toll on her, So, Sadly, The Nandi bear dropped in priority, Defeated, Aella shuffled towards the board, And took a dejected glance.

The snake didn't seem half bad, If she could do it with a small party, She could collect more money then fighting the bear with 500 people, The wolf thing didn't seem out of her league either either, And the reward was okay at best, She could do it with one other person and snag 20,000 for herself.

As Aella was thinking to herself, Castor himself, and a girl entered the hall, Aella seemed to be a bit curious, Aella walked over to Castor and said"Hello Castor, Who is this?", Glancing at the silver haired girl, before shifting her attention back on Castor.

Castor sighed as he became immediately overwhelmed, which honestly wasn't a surprise to him. Sure, he had been eager to get back home to the guild, but he had only been back for ten minutes or so and he already wanted to leave again. Objects were flying around, people were being loud, Gerald(ine) was being a whiny and jealous tool, as per usual, and now he was being approached by another member and prodded with questions. He had had enough. He shook his head slowly at Aella as he shrugged and stared at her with a blank expression.

"She didn't tell me her name yet. Why don't you ask her yourself, I have to... do something. Anything. Away from here. Right now."

With that, he locked eyes with Josephine for a moment, trying his best to silently urge her to escape as he was about to, and then turned away to venture to his room. There he changed clothes, slipping into something that allowed him to more comfortably move around in at various speeds, and grabbing a small, collapsible buckler. As it was now, the buckler was a simple wooden rectangle, but it could be folded out with a quick flick of the wrist into an 18 in. diameter shield. His rapier was still hung at his waist.

His next stop was outside, or more specifically, Kayle's vehicle. Castor had been an Officer of the Blue Empire guild essentially as long as the guild had existed, and so he knew when members were just seeing dollar signs after looking at any specific bounty. Five star bounties shouldn't be taken lightly, they're dangerous, often incredibly so, and they're difficult. Even with groups of people. Hell, sometimes they were difficult even with Castor on board.

Seeing as he was the second to arrive at the vehicle after Kayle's little announcement, Castor approached the man himself and held out his hand in front of him, palm cupped and facing skyward, as if he was waiting for something to be handed to him. Something like a set of keys. Because he was the only one who actually knew where they needed to go, because like always, the members had gotten all worked up and decided to set out before getting any of the necessary information from either of their Officers.

"C'mon. Hand 'em over. You don't even know where you're going, or what a Nandi Bear is. Whoever else shows up won't know, either."

Castor would have to fill them in either as he drove or before they left.

---

Josephine eyed the girl, who's stature seemed to mimic her own. Maybe for once she had found a human being who was shorter than herself. She seemed nice enough, but friendliness was a trait that made Jo feel a tad bit uneasy. Maybe it was the fact that, she herself, was incapable of the gregarious attribute. She preferred blatancy over this polite crap, but seeing as this guild would soon be considered her new 'home', she worked up a humble smirk.

"Josephine Gwen." She reached out a hand, hoping to greet her company with a handshake, but faltered with she noticed the caked on dirt that covered her palm. It must have been from retrieving her bag. Now that she thought about it, a warm shower sounded decedent. It was late, and she hadn't even filled out her guild registration yet, so bounties were most definitely off limits anyways.

Considering he/she had been poking around orders upon their arrival, Josephine assumed that this lanky flamboyant.. person was someone of authority. She rotated her shoulders to look at them with pale blue lenses. "Where will I be staying?"

---

Geraldine scoffed as Castor so rudely sauntered away, without so much as a greeting. Then again, what was he to expect?

With a hefty sigh, Geraldine scratched at the nape of his neck, and took in the young innocent features of the new girl. He couldn't control the exasperation as he rolled his eyes. It seemed Castor had a newly developed 'thing' for picking up little girls.

Still, he was taken back by her seemingly demanding personality.

"Hold on, sweetheart." He crossed his arms, leaning in to meet the sassy young one at eye-level. "You aren't even an official guild member yet. Who's to say you're even qualified?"

Then again, Castor had yet to bring home one that wasn't.

"If you're so eager for a place to stay, then you'll be rooming with Aella here."

He mentally scoffed to himself. When exactly had this become a boarding house for midgets?

His jealous concerns were quickly scraped from his mind when he realized just how bare the bounty board had gotten. He needed his vices too, after all and his funds were draining like sand through an hourglass. Knowing Ajax, he'd require Geraldine to cater to the scrubs if he had nothing better to do.

Without another word, he left the two munchkins to converse among themselves and crept behind Emery with all the craftiness of a snake. From behind the chair, he tossed his frail arms around Emery's neck and nestled into his chestnut hair.

"Emery, take me with you." He whimpered, though he hadn't the slightest clue of which bounty Emery had reserved. He just didn't want to be left alone to tend to Ajax's dirty work. With the two of them, it should have been enough to take on any 3-star or lower.

While he had been lazily on his phone, a few others began looking at bounties. Some girl was yelling about taking the on the bear. A few others, some girl named Oliver and Kayle, piped up about also taking on it. While he was interested in the fight that would happen taking on such a beast, he stayed quiet and let others have a chance at a five star bounty. He also noticed Castor had a new recruit, though she didn’t look very inviting of a person.

Through the commotion that was the Guild’s hall, Emery nearly crawled out of his skin when Geraldine had grabbed ahold of him. He nearly fell out of the plush seat, startled. If Emery was anything, easily startled was one of them. “Goddammit, don’t do that!” He hissed, looking over at his roommate. Still, the other clung to him like a child, wanting to go on a bounty hunt with him. “Sure, but I planned on taking the Cerastes and yes I know it’s a four star bounty. Seems like a fun fight. Unless that amarok is up for grabs.” He didn’t know how his superior would react to him wanting to take on a four star bounty alone, but he had said people could join him. He was confident in his abilities to take on some stupid snake and honestly didn’t care much for the money that came with it. Sure, he needed some but Emery was hardly frivolous with his spending, and even if he split up the cash it would last him far longer than most of the guild members.

Pulling Geraldine off of him, Emery rose to his feet, stretching and giving the other a crooked grin. When was the last time he worked on a bounty with Geraldine? He couldn’t remember but he knew they had at least one other time. He mused over how they were to take on either a big ass wolf or a snake. He hoped they could take on the snake, though he was sure he’d burn a forest down if he weren’t careful with his abilities. “Which one do you want to do? Either is fine with me I don’t really care much for the reward.” He spoke, scratching at the back of his neck as he waited for Geraldine's advice.

Geraldine seemed unphased by Maria's sudden appearance. After all, he had become accommodated with every member of the guild, as it was his responsibility as an officer. He'd never once gone on a bounty hunt alone, be it as he tried. He'd be forced to drag along a new member, or face a wall of young faces who pleaded to join his group. Though Emery had separated him, Gerald had a fixation for physical contact. He rested a shoulder upon the boy like a living crutch, and turned his attention to the blonde. Maria's powers were useful in nearly every situation, so why wouldn't he allow it?

"Hey, why not. Let's go after whatever's tougher. That hideous snake, was it? Good. I've got some some pent up stress to release." Though more often than not, he found himself supporting his team mates and rarely ever getting a piece of the action. It never mattered to him. They were all paid the same for their efforts.

While he awaited for his roommates response, another walked up to them. He smiled at Maria, and though he didn’t know the girl well, he had seen her around several times. He shrugged lightly as she proposed to join their little group, a lopsided grin on his face. “I mean, I don’t mind.” He spoke, glancing over at Geraldine. He wasn’t too sure how well he and Maria would work, frankly he didn’t even know her ability. But he was more concerned over the fact he didn’t do well around woman. Not that he didn’t get along, but he was quick to make a fool of himself, and it stung worse around pretty woman, he supposed.4


Though as she spoke up once more, he tilted his head to the right, resembling that of a dog. “Borrow?” He asked, though the question was mostly to himself. Geraldine finally spoke up and suggested the snake, causing the younger to pump a fist in the air, looking like a boy who just got a new toy.


“Fuck yeah, let’s kick its ass!” He still had no idea what Maria could do, but he knew Geraldine could get them out of a tough situation. Though, he was more concerned about burning the forest down tthan anything. He didn’t have enough control over his flames to stop them from spreading.

The confusion evident on the redhead's face made her chuckle. With an indulgent smile, she nodded in affirmation to his words. "Yes, borrow." She raised a hand, spreading her fingers as she explained her abilities. "I have power mimicry based on touch, whether it's objects or people." Speaking of, she should probably grab something of Castor's real quick. On the offchance she'd have a lot of trouble trying to learn fire magic, it would be nice to have an alternative to Geraldine's powers.

Blue eyes glanced around the room, noting that a lot of people had decided to run off with the five star group Eileen had compiled. She wasn't surprised; a lot of their members liked the extra thrill that came with a challenge. Personally, Maria was content in doing the safer tasks. Well, each to his own, right? Anyway, she supposed at one point she'd be roped into a five star bounty. Practically felt like tradition to have at least one five star under your belt. Keep trying until you either get it or you die trying, the latter being the reason why they had a fire in their lobby in the first place.

"What was the name of the creature again?" Bringing out her tablet, she walked over to the bounty board to check the spelling. "Cerastes." It wouldn't do if they got caught with their pants down thanks to lack of research. Her fingers tapped against the screen rhythmically as she downloaded information about their bounty. Maria hated the thought of being unprepared; better she forced herself to read some uninteresting text than losing her arm thanks to being caught unawares.

"So, when do we move out?"