Johnathon Allen's Story

It was the early morning, and just like any other morning, in the Guild, a certain woman sat at the bar. Her fiery dark eyes surveyed her domain, watching as fellow guild mates walked in and out and about her Guild. Not many had arrived probably because it was still pretty early but not for her. She was an early bird amongst the sleep ins and she was proud of it. Leaning back on the stool she sat upon, Anaida placed her elbows on the bars countertop behind her and breathed a sigh of content.

However it seemed her peaceful morning wasn’t about to stay peaceful for very much longer. Already she could see some of the more rowdy members coming in both new and old. Anaida didn’t pay much mind to it since she hoped with her being present they wouldn’t do anything stupid. For now Anaida would simply stay where she was and relax while drinking her morning coffee.

John tossed and turned in his bed, he could hear screams and the sound of a woman crying. He quickly sat up in his bed realized it was just a nightmare. He then turned his head and saw a shadowy figure; it was the shape of a female. It faded away, but John felt like it was still watching him. This had happened to him before, but he hadn’t experienced the nightmares in over a year. He wondered why he was being terrorized by them after so long. He inhaled and exhaled slowly trying to calm himself down. His heartbeat slowed down, the breathing seemed to help him keep calm. He stood up and walked toward the window next to his bed. He pushed the window open and let a cold breeze in, the view from his apartment was beautiful. He could see that the sun was rising by the mix of blue and orange in the horizon. He turned from the view with a sigh, he wished he could look longer but he had to leave.

He showered to wash the sweat and his worries away. After he had finished he looked at the mirror on his wall. He didn't feel like he was being watched anymore and assumed it was all in his imagination. He chuckled not because it was funny, but because it stopped him from feeling the sadness that was coming. It had been six years since the mission and he still couldn't get over it. But he wasn’t going to let it consume him, John put on a loose black t-shirt, brown pants, and casual shoes.

After washing his worries away with the cold shower he made breakfast. As he sat at his table sipping coffee, eating eggs, and reading the newspaper he felt old. John caught himself smiling at the thought and then wiped it from his mind. He looked around his place seeing all the things he had created. The chairs, table, and even the decorations on the wall, almost everything in his apartment was created by him using his magic. He cleaned up his apartment and took one more look out the window before he grabbed his coffee and walked out to make his way to the guild.

He sipped his coffee slowly savoring the flavor. He could see the guild hall in the distance, the building was beautiful. It had been his home for ten years, inside that building was where the people he loved helped raise him. It was because of Fairy Tail that he learned how to truly control his magic. The members of Fairy Tail were his true family and he would do anything to protect that bond. As he entered the guild hall, he looked around and saw who had already arrived. He ran his hand through his slightly wet hair as he walked around the guild. As he made his way toward the bar he noticed the guild master, Anaida, sitting on a stool. He placed his cup of coffee at the bar, nodded to his guild master, and said “Morning” He sat at the bar and sipped his coffee and tried to seem happier than he was. He was happy to be at the guild, but his memories had a grip on him that he couldn’t fully escape from. He knew Anaida could see through him, she was always perceptive.

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The sun rose on Fiore, streaking the sky with the brilliant hues of dawn's first light. The mosaic above painted a beautiful scene in the chilly morning air to any who cared to glance skyward. Merchants, traders, and various other townsfolk scurried out of their homes and into the streets, ready to take on the day as it began anew, leaving endless possibilities to any that cared chase after them.

The masked man apart from the main square was not as optimistic as as many of the simpler folk around him this day. Clad in a wreath of dark clothing, it appeared as if the man casting his gaze into the water of the tiny stream that wound through the city was wrapped in an aura of shadow. Legs dangling over the edge of the bridge, Virgil watched the waters as they moved steadily to wherever their path would take them, his finger gently tapping the edge of a plain, yet slightly old looking book her held in his grasp. He had gotten to nearly the edge of town when he felt the book digging into his back, the pressure of his belongings pressing the book against the cloth of his bag. When he dug out the nuisance, Virgil knew he had to turn around. He knew he wasn't ready to leave.

'Treasures and Traps: A Guide to Runes and Ruins.'

The book was simple and detailed exactly as one might think, but Virgil smiled as he tucked the small tome back into his bag and made the short trip back to his tiny apartment. Elizabeth had given it to him a day prior, and he had finished it during his missed time the past night. His pack made its way to its designated spot in his simply furnished room as he made his way to the wardrobe on the far wall. His clothes were not worn from the night and a fresh pair would have been a waste, but his mask was needed to be replaced. Row upon row sat inside the wardrobe as he replaced his current and pulled a new one. Cracked and missing a large portion from the left side of it's face, Virgil's eye was exposed as he drew the sheet off of the mirror outside the door. He could only hold his own gaze for a moment before the sheet was replaced and he quickly made his way out the door, book in hand.

Minutes seemed to dissipate as Virgil's eye scanned a few key pages from his book as he ignored the whispers of those he passed in the streets. Before long, he found himself standing before the double doors of Fairy Tail, Fiore's pride and headache. His beloved guild. Doing as he always did, Virgil slid in without a word and as inconspicuous as possible, keeping out of everyone's way and apologizing to any the he blocked on his way into the main hall.

Virgil's path would bring him close to the bar and he paused for a second to equip his other hand with a small cup of tea. The aroma perked him up instantly as he regarded the other two seated at the bar. "Ma'am." He regarded their guild master politely and nodded to Johnathon nearby. "Pardon me."

With his tea in hand and the precious book in the other, Virgil spied what he was searching for in a corner of the room, apart from the commotion that normally surrounded the hall. Peering over the shoulder and past the blonde head atop to the parchments sprawled along the table. Lifting his mask slightly to see better, Virgil pointed with his book hand to a large ink blot on the paper. "You missed a spot Elizabeth."

Sorry, wrong place.

Opening your eyes to see the sun rising over the beautiful lake in Fiore would be considered the most peaceful relaxing thing in the world. At least, to Damia it was. So relaxing in fact, that he never wanted to wake up in the morning. However, like always, he slowly rolled out of bed until he fell on the floor and rolled around some more until he grew tired of it. From that point, he stood up to make his bed and went to eat. After eating he cleaned his bowl, went to take a shower, and from there he was ready to set foot on the road to his guild. Most people who saw the boys room would think that he was some type of neat freak even though that wasn't the case. He just liked to do as little work as possible to get the job done. As he saw it, by cleaning after yourself after you do something, you don't have to ever do those all day chores he dreads so much. Nope, a calm comfortable day sounded much better to him. He'd even settle for a loud fun day. Now that he was on his way to a place where days can vary, he hummed a little tune, excited to figure out what type of day it would be.

The walk was nice enough to tell him that nothing was really going on this morning. After his first wild morning in the guild, he found that he should always expect a burning set of buildings or random crowds of screaming people. This was just to relieve shock, but that didn't stop it from being an everyday possibility. Making it to the guild hall without any incidents happening the lad was free to enter his second home.

"Hey. I've been waiting for you," a familiar voice called.

"Huh?" Damia looked over to see it was none other than Garr, the latest victim to his schemes. "Oh. Good Morning, hehe."

"Don't hehe me pal. You told me that the guild master was giving rewards to those who mopped the whole floor and I was lucky enough to think to ask her before I started mopping."

"Wow really? Good job man. You cracked my evil scheme."

Garr spat into his holding cup. "Yeah, well now she wants to see you. So who's laughing now? Hehehe." The dwarf of a man walked away happily.

The words he left behind only seemed to slowly seek in Damia's stomach. There was nothing more time consuming than the hour it took to clean the whole entire guild hall. If that wasn't bad enough, the one person who he had to listen to no matter what. The one person who could make him do all the chores at once with no questions asked. The one person in the guild who he conceded to. She was the very same woman who he had to speak to. Passing through a couple of his guild mates, he quickly said "hi" to each of them before going in front of the woman. "Uhhh. Hey auntie." He greeted. The woman gave him a stare which almost made him leave the scene. "So uh... Yeah...... I was ...... Yesterday......" He quickly noticed that he had no excuse that he could give to her while she was looking at him like that, so instead he just bowed his head waiting to get hit.
"Ughh," he softly grunted. Raising his head and rubbing it with his right hand he said, "So yeah, I'll get the broom now."

While sweeping he noticed that everyone else was enjoying their morning conversations so he scanned the area to see who he could mingle with. Over to his right and where the bar was, he saw Sera, Hannah, the old man, Anaida, and Miyuu, who seemed to hate him for some reason. Across from the bar over to the mission board, he saw Seto and Aaron. He really didn't feel like having a conversation about working. Soon he saw Roxie and Tiny, but he waved off the idea about hanging out with them so early in the day. "Wow." He thought out loud. "I'm really getting old huh. I use to have a whole bunch of energy in the morning." Since it seemed like a good idea to let everyone talk amongst themselves for now, he kept on sweeping in hopes that someone would come in and talk to him............and that he would never have to sweep again.

The sun shone, brighter than usual. It was as if someone had turned up the brightness as it pierced through the woods like a knife through butter. Julius rolled over before jumping up as if someone had thrown water on him. Squinting his eyes he tried to make sense of everything that happened and why he was in his bathroom lying on the floor.

"You do know that we have you outnumbered right?" A brutish looking man said as five other men dressed in tattered clothing surrounded Julius.

"I don't think that's ever mattered before. And gentlemen I'm not going to fight you all will be fighting yourselves." Julius laughed as he turned around and began walking away. In a matter of moments there were screams of fear as Julius disappeared into the darkness.

"Damn it!" Julius yelled as he splashed water on his face. He looked at his reflection in the mirror noticing his trademark golden eyes. It was supposed to be a simple job, sneak into the bar, steal the treasure back and return it. So how in the hell does it turn out that they have a dark mage hiding in the ranks, even though he got the treasure it still seemed to be mind boggling.

He grabbed his brown towel and wiped his tan face, not remembering the time. Ten past seven, he was running late but it didn't really matter seeing as how he had a long night. He ran into his room, hopping over his stool and grabbing a blue dress shirt and white tie; running out the house without having his shirt on yet, he caught a few glances as his black and white crest shone in the middle of his chest.

He noticed a couple of burn marks that were imprinted to the ground and thought of only one person. The red haired dragon or spit fire as he called her, Sera. This made him a bit more excited, because he could possibly see the elegant and ever beautiful Holly. Walking through the doors, he took in everything. The S class mages each in their own corner, the guild master drinking, the old man and the dragons. He gave a small nod to everyone as he went behind the counter and began prepping meals for everyone that would be going on a job.

Aniada Quincy

Little but little the members of her guild walked through the large double doors. The first she saw was Roxie, who wore a look of determination on her face. Next came Johnathan, whom she returned his greeting of good morning. However something seemed a bit off about him. She could tell by the forced “happy” atmosphere he carried around him and she was about to question him when Elizabeth walked in. The poor girl still had a smudge of ink on the underside of her jawline which only meant she had fallen asleep at her desk again. Nodding back to her guild mate, Anaida was about to focus her attention once more on Jonathan when suddenly a pair of slender arms wrapped themselves around her waist. Those same arms were accompanied by a soft child-like voice of none other than Aina who seemed to take delight in calling her Baa-chan.

"Baa-Chan~! Baa-Can~! Can you guess what day it is, Baa-Nee-Chan??" The older woman looked down at Aina with something of a scowl, “It’s the day where you finally stop calling me Baa-chan.” she said dryly. "Today is the day Sera-Nee-Chan comes back! Aren't you happy Baa-Chan?!" Her eyes widened ever so slightly upon hearing that name. not that Anaida was surprised or anything it was simply the fact that she, the Guild Master, was not aware of this bit of information yet Aina was. Anaida was aware of Sera’s longing to find her adoptive father and every now and then she would give the red head some information she thought might be able to her Sera. A smile full of mirth appeared on her face watching Sera side step Aina’s hug but was really only glad that the pink haired girl had let go of her and focused her attention elsewhere.

Sera came walking over towards the bar and started to explain how her trip went. While listening to Sera explain her most recent lead, Anaida’s eyes looked elsewhere. This elsewhere soon turned out to be Virgil the quieter folk of her Guild but quite possibly the oddest in his ways. The man seemed adamant in always wearing that damned mask of his. Something she wanted to tear off his face, so that he could allow the world to see him as he was. Anaida raised her cup of coffee towards him as greeting since it would be rude to interrupt Sera. The older woman soon realized her second favorite beverage was beginning to disappear from her mug. Which then lead to the idea of maybe trading it for a keg of beer seeing as the more rambunctious of her guild were showing up.

Soon enough Shin took over the matter of dealing with Sera and was soon joined by Hannah. Both of whom she respected, although she saw Shin as more of an old friend than a simple guild mate. Anaida left the trio to themselves for the time being and went to looking around, just in case someone else came in before she got to talk to Johnathon. It turned out her intuitive proved right when Miyuu spoke her good mornings to her. A strained smile on her lips, Anaida returned the greeting to the younger girl. Not only that but it seemed she had to deal with something akin to a problem that involved one of her younger mages, Damia. Who, it seemed, told another mage a lie about her giving rewards to those who took the trash out. After staring him down for a little while, Anaida bonked him on the head and watched him as he grabbed the broom and began to sweep the guild flood. “Geez you’d think he’d have learned his lesson by now.”

Rubbing the bridge of her nose, Anaida turned around and gave her mug to the bartender so he could refill it with coffee. Then turning to the side with one elbow leaning against the bartop, Anaida finally focused her attention on Johnathon. “So what seems-” before she could even finishing voicing her concern, Anaida was interrupted by a very loud name call. Cringing she raised one finger to Johnathan, almost like an apology, and turned to the bartender, “Actually turn that into a beer please, I might be getting a headache soon.” her words were low and one could tell form her tone that she was on the verge of getting upset. In her frustrated state she hadn’t noticed Shin had left the bar only to be replaced later by a youngster by the name of Julius Knoven.

Releasing a sigh Anaida took her mug of coffee, now turned mug of beer, and took a couple gulps from it. Once down she slammed the mug down onto the bar top, slightly glaring at the louder bunches of mages. It was as if she was daring them to ruin her mood but she knew in a few hours, maybe less, she’d ruin theirs with a certain subject that needed bringing up. However that was for a later time and right now someone needed to be questioned. “As I was saying Johnathon, what seems to be the problem? You look a bit down, did something happen this morning?” For a moment a soft expression settled on her face but it was fleeting and was gone as soon as it had arrived.

Johnathon Allen

John looked to Aniada when she first started talking to him. He smiled because she had the presence of a mother and it made him feel warm inside for some reason. He couldn’t help but let a small smirk creep across his face as some of his guildmates interrupted the conversation Aniada was trying to have with him. He sipped his coffee longer and waited for everything to settle down. However, it was rare that people settled down in Fairy Tail. When the environment was as mellow as it was going to get Anaida approached Johnathon and asked her question. “As I was saying Johnathon, what seems to be the problem? You look a bit down, did something happen this morning?”

John looked to Anadia and the smile that was on his face faded. He took another sip of his coffee and then let the words spill from his mouth. “The nightmares are starting to come back; it’s been over two years and I thought I had finally gotten over it. Well I know you don’t really get over something like that, but I thought I had finally been able to forgive myself.” After saying those words John thought about the mother of the boy and wondered if she could ever forgive him. It made him think that if he could barely forgive himself, she could never forgive him. This thought put a solemn expression of John’s face. John sat there looking at the floor for a second and sipped his coffee. He looked to Anadia and gave her a half smile “It doesn’t really matter though, it’s too early to be dealing with stuff like this lets just forget I said anything.”

He had a feeling Anadia wasn’t just going to let it go and a part of him wanted that. He wanted someone to set him on a path that wouldn’t be self-destructive. He knew that if he dealt with this himself he would let it eat him up inside, until he did something stupid and drastic. John could never really handle this type of thing in his life. He was never taught to handle grief as a child his father was focused on making him a stronger wizard and not a stronger person. The thought of his father made him tense up, he gripped the cup of coffee so tight that a crack appeared on it.

“The nightmares are starting to come back; it’s been over two years and I thought I had finally gotten over it. Well I know you don’t really get over something like that, but I thought I had finally been able to forgive myself.”

She stared at Johnathan for a moment before coming up with something to say. "They're back, that's not too surprising. With the severity of the actions of your past, I don't expect you to just forget about it. These things take time to heal but sometimes they never do." Looking back at him, Anaida took on a more stern approach to the matter at hand.

“It doesn’t really matter though, it’s too early to be dealing with stuff like this lets just forget I said anything.”

Hearing this, Anaida sighed and stepped off her stool. It seemed Johnathan didn't think it mattered for it being so early. However that wasn't what made her sigh. It was the fact that he chose to brush it aside and let it take its course. As much as I want to help you Johnathan, I won't and I can't. You're none to special than the rest of my Guild Anaida turned her back to him and downed the rest of beer in one go. With an exaggerated sigh of content, it almost seemed like Anaida for once was in a good mood. However the words that passed her lips said otherwise.

" It's not a matter of you just forgetting about it and forgiving yourself. There's more to it than that."

With that being said, Anaida glanced over her shoulder breifly and noticed the crack in his cup. Shaking her head ever so slightly, she walked off to some other part of the Guild. To where she walk to was surprisingly enough outside. While talking with Johnathan she noticed an increase of magic and had glanced in the general direction. What she saw didn't sit too well with her but she kept her cool before Johnathan. And so now Fairy Tail's Guildmaster followed two of her mages outside.

Leaving the double doors open Anaida stood between two battle-ready mages. One of whom had the habit of challenging her while the other she admired for his skill. Hands on hips she looked at Hannah then Seto with a scowl. “I guess I should watch over you guys.” Closing her eyes for a moment, she rubbed the back of her head. With a mean smile on her lips Anaida crossed her arms and stood in a stable stance to keep from being knocked over if their fight got out of hand. Soon enough their dual began and Anaida couldn’t help but want to join in. Hmm maybe some other day. Every now and then she’d have to side step or move a bit to keep from getting hit by anything. For the most part Anaida enjoyed watching her mages dual with one another, each one showing what they had learned from their last mistakes.

Anaida did worry, if just a little, once Seto’s ShadowMake: Fenrir took hold on Hannah’s shoulders. A prideful smile overcame that worry the moment she saw Hannah fight back and took a few steps back from their dual the moment she saw two of her strongest mages getting ready to collide. The moment they connected, waves of magic erupted from where they stood pushing back anything that wasn’t grounded to the floor. Which included those who were foolish enough to get close to Seto and Hannah’s dual. As the shcockwave hit her, Anaida bent low bringing up her arms to shield her face. Unlike some of the other members Anaida didn’t get pushed back but stood in the same place. Straightening up, a mix between a scowl and a prideful smile settled on her face as if she didn’t know whether to be angry at them having nearly destroyed the area around them or to be full of a mothers pride when she sees her kids grow up.

Walking up to Seto and Hannah with her hands on her hips she beckoned behind her towards the Guild. “Although Shin has a point, for now I suggest you two, especially you Hannah, to go to the infirmary. I have something important to tell all of you and I need everyone’s help in this matter.” Not bothering to wait for their replies, she took them by the shoulders, being careful with Hannah’s wounds, and shoved them in the direction of the infirmary. Anaida walked back into the Guild’s hall then went to the second level. Standing by the corner of the stairway that would lead her to the balcony that opened up towards the hall, Anaida wondered how her Guild would take this news. Taking a deep breathe, Anaida stepped out from the shadows and walked to the middle of the balcony.

Leaning her elbows alongside the rails, Anaida watched her Guild with what could only be a mother’s expression of pride. That expression soon changed itself to a more serious look and she cleared her throat loudly. “Attention Fairy Tail!!” her voice boomed across the hall making some jump unexpectedly. Glad to have their attention she continued, keeping her voice loud.

“We have received a request from a small town by the name of Annandale. This request will be asking us to risk our lives for strangers and to possibly fight strong opponents, but I have confidence that as mages of Fairy Tail you will be able to confront your opponents. Now to the task we have been given, we Fairy Tail have been asked to deal with a guild by the name of Nightmare Hearts. They are a dark guild and have been terrorizing the town of Annandale. We have been given little information on the key members of this guild due to only the small fry going out into town. I need you lot to get into your teams and we will head out as soon as possible.” With that Anaida stepped back and let the information sink in.

Johnathon Allen

John sat on his stool and listened to Anaida’s lecture. It made him feel good to get some kind of advice. However, her words weren’t going to help the nightmares go away. John pondered the words as Anaida walked away from him. “It’s not a matter of you just forgetting about it and forgiving yourself. There’s more to it than that.” He wondered what exactly she meant by that, sure there was more to it than forgiving himself. He wanted to be forgiven by everyone he had hurt, but it wasn’t as simple as saying sorry. A feeling of sadness washed over John for a few moments as he just sat there with his head down. When he picked his head up he saw everyone being rowdy and heading toward the door. He shook of the sadness and then decided he would see what everyone was looking at outside. As he made his way to the door he got the feeling that he needed to meditate; it was something he hadn’t done in several years. He believed it would help him clear his mind and relax a little. He decided to make that his goal for later in the day.

When he reached the door he saw that Hannah and Seto were sparing. Watching the two of them battle reminded him of the time he fought against Hannah. The thought of it brought a smile to his face, he then realized he was drifting off and needed to refocus on the fight in front of him. But after he escaped his short daydream the fight was already over. He let out a small sigh and walked back into the guild hall and sat back down at the bar. He ordered a drink and sucked it down leaving only a few drops left in the cup. He watched as the crowd reentered the guild hall, he turned himself around and ordered another drink. It wasn’t until he heard Anaida’s booming voice that he turned around in his stool to see what was going on. She talked about a mission for getting rid of a dark guild and John could do nothing but smile. He needed a good fight; it had been a long time since he fought an enemy that allowed him to use his full potential. He knew that this dark guild would have some S-class wizards so he would get the fight he wanted. The idea of being on a team didn’t bother John very much, but he didn’t know who would be a good teammate.

His eyes scanned the room looking for possible teammates. It was then that he noticed Shin, the man was an experienced combatant and knew his way around a fight. Sure, he was getting up in age and wasn’t the same S-class wizard John knew when he first joined the guild, but he would make an interesting teammate. John got up off his stool and made his way toward Shin, he placed his hand on Shin’s shoulder. “Hey Shin, I was wondering if you wanted to team up for this mission. It’s been a while since I’ve seen you in action so this should be fun.”

When Anaida was giving her announcement, Shin made his way into a seat to sit down. There was no reason to keep using magic, and given the proximity of Elizabeth, Seto and Hannah nearby it wasn't exactly like he was alone either. He let the three evaluate themselves, after all his role regardless of groupings would pretty much be negligible unless things got life threateningly serious. He had more than one little chuckle in regards to the talented young mage's conversation, especially when Elizabeth commented about punting team mates off a cliff to get to a good fight. It was something he was guilty of doing in a rather literal fashion around their age.

John's hand and question had actually caught him somewhat by surprise. In truth he'd expected either all the S-Class magic users to either go their own way or form something of a power team. To that result, he ended up pausing for a while before providing his answer. The abundant noise in the guild, particularly the words of the other S-Class mages helped him provide a proper answer.

"I'll gladly work with you, provided you don't mind taking things a bit easier...the legs aren't what they used to be." Shin threw a wide grin as he made his proclamation.

" Besides a strong, young man such as yourself would make keeping the younger ones safe much easier should Nightmare Heart prove stronger than expected."