The Town of Annandale

It was a little less than a year ago when they arrived, the guild known as Nightmare Hearts. They came like the night does after day, passing through the throngs of people as they celebrated the founding of their town, Annandale. They were completely oblivious of the coming doom that would soon befall them in a just a little over an hour. Their Guild mates were like water trickle through mounds of pebbles, their black cloaks and hoods stuck out like a sore thumb against the festive colors of the townspeople. However it wasn’t too difficult to spot them, aside from their cloaks, for their Guilds emblem had been stitched in gold on the back of the cloak. The emblem was that of a heart being crushed by what some thought were thorns and a single ghostly wing on the left side.

While others watched from the rooftops. A keen smile spread across a figures face once they reached the roofs edge that looked out upon the main street. For their celebration, the townspeople did a parade, nothing extravagant mind you, with multiple floats. It didn’t take them long to locate a certain man considering he was in the center of it all on the largest and possibly the ugliest float created. Their smile turned to one of distaste at the sight of the mayor, leaning over the edge of the rooftop they could see the outline of the round man. Stepping back they disappeared from the rooftop leaving nothing but a soft whistling sound to inform those in the crowd of their departure. The lone figure then took a team to the mayor’s home or at least they assumed it was since it was the largest and most well maintained building in town. It didn’t take them too long to reach the outskirts of the manor nor when they made themselves known.

A single figure stood before the black iron gates with their hands raised before them. They then brought their hands together in the form of a clap releasing in a loud crack one would associate with the coming of thunder. Waves of sound tore up the ground, but only in front of them, and then the gate. It would have been somewhat normal if it weren’t for the fact that the sound wave moved in a way only a mage could make it move. The people within the mansion all jumped at the loud sound and did so with a few screams when the sound echoed throughout the mansion. The windows and anything fragile nearby all shattered making people run out into the hallways in hopes of evading the flying pieces of glass and porcelain. However they were mistaken in that sense as the moment they left their chambers and the ringing subsided from their ears a low buzzing hum could be heard drifting through the halls. And with it was that same cloaked figure from before but this time they were accompanied by a few others.



As their top mages took control of the mayors mansion, the underlings were left with the task of kidnapping the mayor and bringing him to his home. They did just that and boy did they cause a ruckus. Some got carried away but then again no one had told them they couldn’t pillage the town while they were at it, while others destroyed a few buildings and floats for the fun of it. It wasn’t very hard kidnapping the mayor, they simply sent one someone to run up onto the float and take him by force through magic. The crowds of people began to scream in terror at seeing their mayor kidnapped by hooded figures before their very eyes. At the same time those who did not witness this screamed and ran but because of the attacking mages. As the townspeople scurried about trying to get away they found that they were unable to pass their towns borders. With little protection from the attacking mages all the townspeople could do was hope for the best and stay within their homes.



The mages who had broken into the large building ran about making sure to check every room for occupants. The few guards there, who hadn’t fallen under that buzzing hum from before, were later taken down by the mages who lagged behind their obvious leader. Said leader reached a large room and there they found the parade-crashers who held a shaking mayor between them. The mayor could see the coming grin that spread itself across the ringleader’s face which didn’t really surprise him much. What did surprise him was the gender of this ringleader. Allowing their hood to fall to their shoulders, the woman shook out her bangs with her fingers and let them fall back in place over her forever obscured right eye. “Well isn’t today festive.” she said, her voice cool while walking around the room. “I apologize for the intrusion Mayor but we’ll be taking over your lovely little town now. You have something that we want. Something only you know the location of which is why you’re still alive.”

Still walking around, the woman eventually found herself standing behind a large mahogany desk. With a cat-like smile she pulled the chair out and sat herself down, bringing her booted feet up on the desks edge. This seemed to bother the mayor a bit as his face turned a light shade of pink. She was well aware of this but she chose to ignore it, “Have they set it up yet?” focusing her attention on her companies. One of them turned away for a brief moment before answering with a yes, nodding her acknowledgement she spoke. [color= #BF40FF] “Well then, let’s inform the people of the well-being of their beloved mayor.”[/color] Bringing her feet back down to earth, she leaned forwards on her elbows before continuing, “Hello people of Annandale! As you may have witness my Guild members may have already begun pillaging your homes. Well I am here to tell you that this will not be the end, not for some time, not until we get what we want. And before I end this announcement I’d like to introduce my Guild to you all and you lend a good ear. We are the Guild Nightmare Hearts and we will get what we want.” With a snap of her fingers the intercom ended and she leaned back into the chair a devilish smile on her lips that was directed towards the mayor.





The sound of wind passing through an open window could be heard from a certain room on the left side of the hallway. The door to said room was slightly ajar, and if one were to look inside they’d see where the sound was coming from. Across the room was a large balcony window that had been left open. A curtain had been pulled across the large surface of the window but with the wind blowing it fluttered in the wind. With the moving curtain and open window, the morning light poured into the otherwise dark room. It fell across the four-poster bed and its occupant. Shifting in her sleep, a tanned shoulder could be seen as the covers slipped from their previous position thanks to the unwanted movement. Eventually a head pocked out, a shock of white contrasted against the dark red of the covers.

Rolling to her side and eventually finding herself in an upright sitting position. Kisara ran a hand through her hair, pushing aside the white strands away from her face. In that moment one would be able to catch a glimpse of what lay past those strands once it settled back in place. After staring out into the darkness of her room, she stood up to get ready for the day.

Once she finished lacing up her boots, the young woman stood to her full height and stretch. A yawn escaped her lips leaving time for an amused expression to settle on her face as she walked out of her bedchamber. The mansion was relatively quiet despite it being late, the only real audible sound she could hear were the soft thuds of her boots falling against the carpeted hallways. After turning a few corners and going down two flights of stairs Kisara came across a sight that most, if they weren’t aware of the situation, would have gawked at in horror. Limp bodies were scattered across the hallway of men and women, some of which had fallen against furniture to catch themselves when Kisara had first arrived. This hallway was not alone in that it was scattered with unconscious bodies, throughout the mansion the people who had worked within the mansion were knocked out. Smiling to herself, Kisara started to hum when she noticed that some of the people were beginning to shift in their sleep, ready to wake.

At this time of the morning it has become something of a routine to leave the mansion when Kisara started to hum. She did this due to the fact that the effects of her magic spell wore off after about a day had passed. However it only worked if you were awake or even slightly awake. If the victim was sound-asleep most likely the spell wouldn’t work. Once the spell had been reinforced those of her Guild walked back inside making it full of noise once more. With her hands held behind her back Kisara strode through the dining hall nodding her head at her guild-mates when required. At one point she found herself standing at the head of the table and eventually sitting down in the chair that was set there. Not long after someone came by whispering in her ear, losing her relaxed position, Kisara leaned forwards a sinister smile on her lips.

“Now, now everyone please quiet down.” Sadly she did not receive the desired result and so she waited for a bit longer after repeating herself; however that too fell upon deaf ears. With a frown her voice boomed across the hall in a menacing manner, “I said QUIET!. Hearing their leader shout, the mages immediately stopped in their activities and stood at attention. “Better, now it seems we have a little problem on our hands. Our dear mayor it seems has chosen to sell us out and has sent a request for help in overthrowing the dark guild known as Nightmare Hearts.” Almost immediately the mages stood up in an uproar and talking amongst themselves. “Sadly I have received this news two days late, the request has most likely reached some Guild and they are likely heading this way as we speak. So I shall say this once and only once. We will prepare to meet these unfortunate souls by mid-afternoon tomorrow. However most likely they will have their entire Guild so we will meet them with our entire Guild. You are dismissed to form teams or what have you.” Waving her hands at them, the rest of the Guild broke off into groups.

Standing away she caught side of a familiar robed figure and his accompanied mask. An almost kind smile settled on her lips as she approached him, “Oliver you’re with me whether you like it or not. I’ll need that eye of yours for later.”

---

---

Pests...

Everyone around the room was collapsed on the floor, seemingly dead, or as close to it as possible. But occasionally, there was a subtle twitch or gasp as pain racked their bodies from within, signifying that life was still present in them, no matter how small the source. At least a dozen bodies, both male and female scattered here and there with a smaller form of an adolescent, lay crumpled in a wrecked position around the room.

A dusky grey haze settled around the room, making visibility poor, no doubt the source of the suffering that burned through the helpless victims strewn about the room. A glowing ember cut through the haze, pinpointing the source of the sickness and pain in the room as Cind inhaled the smoke from his lit cigarette, breathing out more of the magically terrible haze a moment later. A satisfied smile upturned the corners of his mouth at the sight around him.

'This is the most fun I've had since we arrived in this pathetic to--'

A knocking at the entrance to the closed off room cut his thoughts off suddenly as the corners of his mouth turned down once more. There were no windows, no decent ventilation system, and only one door in the room, making it easy to pinpoint where the sound came from. "Go Away." Cind called casually, he was having too much fun and wasn't going to let the meaningless tasks of the other guild members spoil it now.

"Sorry, but I'm here to relieve you." The voice outside persisted after the knock, slightly muffled through the door. "You're wanted in the town. Word has gotten out to an official guild and they're on their way to try helping the town. The master is predicting a fight."

'Hm?' That bit of information intrigued him. Another guild meant other mages to state the obvious. He could have some fun with them without having to suppress himself like he needed to with the scum laying about the room. Rising from his seat he had assumed in the room, he strode to the door. and opened it, the haze subsiding slightly around the pressure of the rushing air entering the room. A lesser wizard stood before him, throwing up his arm to cover his mouth as the smoke made its way out of the room following Cind.

"You weren't supposed to kill them..." The man said as he peered at the still bodies in the room, lowering his arm slightly to get a better view.

Cind's hand shot out and caught the man, pulling him closer and exhaling a large amount of burning smoke into his face. "Oh don't worry, they aren't dead, they only wish they were!" With a shoving kick, Cind sent the man sprawling into the room before shutting the door behind him. The sounds of the man's fit of coughing was music to his ears as he strode toward the outskirts of the town, preparing to meet the arrival of the Official guild.

“Any of you boys want to be on my team?” A pink-haired girl words dripped from her lips like honey. She wore a captain's hat with a pair of pilot's goggles strapped to it and her guild's trademark coat, with nothing but a white bikini, similarly coloured skirt and knee-high, black, high-heeled boots underneath. Most of the higher-up mages had been or seen through Winny Marvel's act before, but the her scandalous charm would easily put a spell on the lower ranked mages of Nightmare Hearts. “Li'l ol' me just can't bear to play alone...”

Her words prompted many of the lowly members of Nightmare Hearts to throw their selves at the girl. Cries like “Pick me, Winny-chan!” And “I'll protect you, Winny-chan!” Echoed throughout the mansion. Soon she raised a small army of admirers, who, though low in rank, were great in numbers. “We'll go ahead, guild master.” Winny spoke in a girlish, sing-song tone as she smiled and put her hand on her hip and looked over the battalion she had raised. Winny was quite content; with this many men she should be able to wipe out the mages without even lifting a finger.

“Follow me, boys.”

---

If the forebode of a fight between guilds wasn't enough to clear the streets, Winny's entourage sure was. The following morning they had set up shop near a park in Annandale. It was a large field of grass in the open air, with gravel paths crossing through leading visitors past the flowers and open art exhibitions Annandale was known for. The dark mages gathered below the shade of a number of trees. In sheer boredom, few of the pawns had destroyed park benches and statues. This did not please Winny however, and she now used the vandals as a chair. It wasn't as comfortable as she'd hoped, but the very idea amused her. Although she it wasn't quite effective as punishment; there were more than just a few volunteers to take their place...

Her army of admirers weren't the only impatient ones. As time passed, Winny herself too, got antsy. “What's keeping those goodies-two-shoes mages?” She complained, and proceeded to ignore all the suggestions she was handed. Instead, Winny opened up a bag she'd been carrying and took out eight wind-up ducklings. One by one, she wound their clockworks and set them off in different directions. The ducklings were some of the most useless toys in her arsenal. If they would come across any mages, they'd panic and waddle straight back to their owner. However, at this point, that was exactly what Winny wanted...

Boreas merely chuckled in response to his guildmaster's announcement. Despite having been part of a guild that was disbanded by a legal guild, he wasn't worried. Most legal guilds could only deal with small time bandits; Nightmare Hearts was a completely different matter. Boreas' grin only grew wider at the thought of tearing through weak legal mages from a small-time guild, and he almost began to shudder with anticipation. He doubted that the mayor could have got the message very far; he couldn't think of any strong legal guilds in the area. Then again, that guild that had disbanded Black Fang wasn't all that far way. Fairy something... He remembered that their name involved a bad pun. Even if it was them, it would give him a shot at revenge. He scoured his brain for any memories of their wizards, but could only remember three: some geezer who used some crazy, flashy magic, a young man who had control over metal, and a woman with unnatural strength. It had been six years, so he didn't remember them very clearly.

"Sir?"
Boreas snapped back to reality to see a lower-ranking mage stood next to him.
"What?" He scowled, "Don't waste my time."
"Well, sir, you've been sitting there for quite some time, and I was wondering if-"
"Don't rush me!" Boreas snapped as he shot from his chair and used his magic to send the lower-ranking mage flying across the room, "You must be dense if you think I'm just going to sit here while I have the chance to kill some upstart legal mages."

Boreas flung open a window and used his magic to levitate out of the room. It didn't seem like any of the legal mages had turned up yet, so he found a perch on the roof of a house in the town's residential areas, where there would be plenty of people (or meatshields, as Boreas referred to them), and waited, firing off the occasional blast of wind into a randomly chosen house to keep himself from being bored.

Lilith

Lilith laid herself on the roof of a small house. She had been there for about an hour enjoying the day. It was silent; her guild didn’t bother to come by this side of town. It was a perfect place for her to find a little peace and relaxation. Lilith allowed her body to relax and closed her eyes, before she could find even an ounce of sleep a voice cried out. “Hey lady, you up there?!” Lilith rose reluctantly and made her way to the edge of the roof. She looked down over the edge and her eyes locked onto a young boy with a large grin on his face.

The boy was Lilith’s messenger and play thing. He knew better than to annoy her unless it was something important. “What is it boy, this better be good.”The boy let out a light chuckle and said “Well I overheard your guild talkin and some other guild is supposed to be coming to fight you guys.” A grin crept its way across Lilith’s face after hearing those words. It had been a long time since she had a good fight and this guild of mages would give her some enjoyment. Lilith used her magic on the boy and lifted him into the air; she brought him up far enough so he could be directly in front of her. She took a coin out of her pocket and threw it to the boy. “Good work pet.” Lilith floated down from the roof landing softly on her feet. She dropped the boy into a nearby bush and walked off.

“I’m not your pet!” The boy's statement simply made Lilith chuckle, she turned to see him jump out the bush and rush after her. “What are you doing boy?” The boy walked beside Lilith and gave her a smile “I want to watch this fight; I want to know if you are as strong as you claim.” Lilith scoffed at the boys comment “Don’t you have some parents to go bug?” The boy looked at the ground and said “No, I’ve never had parents.” Lilith was silent for a moment; she looked down at the boy. She started to reach out to put her hand on his head but simply said “Just don’t get in my way.”

Kisara & Oliver

”M’lady.” Oliver tipped his mask and bowed before his guild master theatrically. It was a habit he’d taught the servants of the mansions and it greatly amused Oliver. Every time he walked by, the housestaff bowed before him now. It was their best defence against many other of the dark mages as well, so in a way it had been a good deed by Oliver. Groveling before the more sadistic of Nightmare Hearts’ mages was the best way to avoid a beating, after all.

“My eye is yours, as always, master.” Oliver insinuated, as he followed Kisara in wide strides, and put his hands in his pockets. ”What would you need of me today?” He asked eagerly. Although his walk seemed nonchalant, it was quite obvious Oliver was psyched. He always grabbed any opportunity he could to serve Kisara, after all.

Her lips curled at the ends to form a hesitant smile at Oliver’s words. “I thought I had already asked you not to call me that.” She said as she walked away and towards the stairs that led to the cellar. Her tone was full of warning so hopefully he’d take heed to it. Paying him little attention after that Kisara walked down the cellar stairs. “Not today, later. Your ability isn’t of much use to me if the enemy isn’t going to arrive until tomorrow. “ Kisara’s words may have been a bit harsh but she rarely ever sugar-coated things. The pair finally reached the dank bottom of the stairs and onto cold stone. Grabbing a torchlight their shadows danced across the walls as they entered a recently made tunnel. Kisara didn’t make much effort in making conversation instead she whistled an odd tune. as the minutes ticked by the air started to hum with power “I don’t think I’ve taken you here yet Oliver.”

”Not yet, not yet.” Oliver hummed in the same melody according to Kisara’s tune. He was already whistling parts of it, even if it didn’t summon any magical effects like his master’s magic usually did. Because while Kisara had a tendency to keep to herself, Oliver always had a need of some kind of interaction.

Walking on further the two entered a large cavern; the floor was gone for the most part so the mages had built a makeshift bridge from where Kisara and Oliver stood to the other side. “Watch your step,” taking the lead in crossing the bridge. Once they crossed it they were met by another tunnel but unlike the one they had just passed through there were openings in the walls and it was in a spiral formation. As they got closer to the end of the stairs the sound of voices grew in volume. Soon enough Oliver would figure out the source the moment they entered an even larger cavern. The cavern was full of children, all of whom were either sitting or standing with scared and tired looks on their faces. For a brief moment a look of pain flashed across her face but she wouldn’t have been surprised if Oliver didn’t notice it.

This was due to the fact that the children weren’t the only ones in the cavern. Not very far from the group was large crystallized object stood surrounded by naturally made pillars of rock. Kisara walked onto a ledge that went all the way around the cavern, so she led Oliver closer to where the giant crystal lay. If one were to look close enough you could see, faintly, a shadow of some being that looked to be sealed within the crystal. “This is what we’ve come for. As for the children they will simply serve as its meal.” Looking over at Oliver she watched to see his reaction to all of it.

”But they’re so small.” Oliver gasped, as he set his eyes on the being in the crystal. ”Wouldn’t it be better to feed it adults?” He asked, wondering about how it would feel to be eaten by a creature trapped in a crystal. Would the crystal open like a large mouth? Was there a lid on top of it Kisara opened and dropped the children through a hole? Or maybe it sucked the life-force out of the room. Oliver shivered to look at his hand, but it seemed to have remained normal. He put them against the crystal and tried to stare deeper into it, to get some kind of idea what shape or form it had.

”Maybe we can feed it the mayor. He’s big and fat, so wouldn’t he be a good meal?” Oliver mused carelessly, not having noticed Kisara’s earlier show of emotion. ”And why are we feeding it at all? It all sounds like a big hassle. Why would you do that?”

“They don’t have the same vitality as the children do, so it would only result in failure and a lot more people would be needed.” Folding her arms, Kisara watched Oliver. “He wouldn’t be enough.” she said bluntly however her eye narrowed slightly at his questions. “A big hassle for maybe but I-we need to get this done. There’s a reason we do this, although I don’t particularly approve of the method it’s what he wanted us to do.” pausing for a moment, Kisara continued, “Hmm you haven’t met him yet have you. Of course not you’re too young. I’m sure you believe I’m the Guildmaster correct? Well that’s where you’re wrong, I’m only the stand-in the substitute if you will. He only lets a select few know of his existence but what he wants he gets. And he wants this crystal.”

”Another guild master?” Oliver shrugged casually at the reveal. It made sense, that. Nightmare Hearts was filled with sadistic and evil mages. While Kisara had enough crimes on her name to be a bonafide dark mage, she had an empathic streak others lacked. “Why doesn’t he show himself? And why does he want the crystal? There has to be a reason for both.” Oliver mused, even if he sounded somewhat disinterested. He couldn’t bring himself to care very much about a person he’d never seen.

There was something that did tickle Oliver’s interest though, and that was his presence in the caverns. ”And why are you showing me this, substitute master?” He asked, putting his index finger to his chin. ”And what should I call you now? Substitute master sounds silly.”

“Now why would I know that? He trusts very few people, so he probably doesn’t want the possibility of being overthrown is my guess. Power could be one of the reasons, however he hasn’t told me much as to what he plans to do with it and i could care less of what he does with it..” Kisara responded with a disinterested shrug of her shoulders to his question. Now that she thought about it, she wasn’t sure why she brought Oliver with her here. Her lips curled slightly at the ends after hearing substitute master, “Call me Kisara, that is my name. I care little for titles, makes me feel old.” With that being said, Kisara gazed at the large crystal before her for a little while longer before turning on her heel.

“Lets go, we have a fight with mages to prepare for.” Not waiting for a reply, Kisara left the way they came.

Oliver peeked one last time into the crystal, but he could still not see anything. ”Right behind you, Kisara!” Oliver affirmed, but he couldn’t help but be tickled by his unanswered question. Maybe the legal mages came for the crystal. They would certainly not like to find the children down in these dungeons. Oliver sighed… What was the point of going through the trouble of harvesting children for a guild master who never showed up anyway? It gnawed at the young mage, moreso than the part where innocents were being drained, but he didn’t have the time to wonder if he was supposed to catch up with Kisara.

Back at the manor, Oliver found it having emptied out. Perhaps it was Cind dragging victims into his room for playtime, or Winny seducing the lower of the guild members to be her playthings. Oliver wondered where Kisara and he would position their selves. As a last defence before the caverns? That would be odd, because very few in Nightmare Hearts even knew of the cave, if Oliver were to believe the substitute master, and they lived here. On the other hand, within a guild of thieves and assassins, there were more than a few magical artefacts stored in the manor… Perhaps it would make the perfect house of traps then… And Oliver’s ability was perfect for predicting their effect…

”What do we do now, Kisara? Should I wake some of the servants to help us prepare?” Oliver asked, or perhaps even begged because he just loved having people run around for him every once in a while. ”We sure have a lot of thingies we can use in preparation, don’t you think? Their owners won’t miss it when the command comes from you.”

She thought about his suggestion and it certainly seemed alright, "Why not but only a few of them lest they figure out how to wake the others up." Kisara glanced back at Oliver, a playful light in her eye. Turning her attention back forwards she bent down low and whispered something into a servants ear. The servant slowly woke up confused as to where they were until they saw Kisara and Oliver standing over them. Yelling in fright, she tried to get away but Kisara pulled her back by the shoulder a malicious look on her face. "Now, now, after all the trouble I went through to wake you up this is the thanks I get? No matter I have some things for you to do."

After telling the woman what to do, Kisara stood up and went in search for the next person to wake up. Eventually they had enough people, six to be exact, each one with their own set of instructions. They were to gather some of the artifacts a few of the mages had taken with them from either before they ransacked the town or from carrying out that very act. They didn't find as many as Kisara had assumed there to be but they would suffice. After they had gathered them, Kisara instructed the servants to place an artifact at every open hall in the manor. That way if and when mages stepped through they'd have to deal with the artifacts but it was unlikely that they'd come across each and every one of them.

In all honesty Kisara actually had little knowledge of what each and every artifact did. She knew one sealed a beast of some sort within it, another was a trap meant to teleport whoever stepped through its range to a random location within half a mile, the others she wasn't really sure what they did. Once the servants came back, Kisara found they only had about two more left so she kept them with her. Now that the servants had gathered around her once more she spoke to Oliver, "Cover your ears Oliver." The servants confused by what she said backed away slowly but it was already too late, Kisara had begun to hum her tune again.

Protecting his ears against the lullaby, Oliver watched as the servants fell one by one. Hopefully the legal guild would fall just as easily. Oliver never was one to favour fighting, so the having the manor traps and Kisara accompanying him were blessings. Nobody would stand a chance against their substitute guild-master on their homefront like this. Once all servants were back asleep, Oliver removed his hands from his ears and yawned jokingly, even though he hadn’t heard the spell at all.

”Anything else, or are we prepared for the goodie-two-shoes to come?” Oliver asked. ”Wouldn’t want them to get past us into the cave. I don’t think the mysterious true guild master would want such a secret unraveled. Not that many headlines make it far out of town, anyway...”

“No that will be all, now all we have to do now is wait for them to show up.” Glancing at the young man, Kisara shoved her bangs away from her face before letting them fall over her eye again. Sighing she turned to faced Oliver, “Come let us go, we’ll wait for them by the guardhouse.” There was a small guardhouse not far from the entrance to the manors grounds. Most often overlooked it due to it’s small size but what it made up in size it made up the watch tower it had, which was mostly hidden by tall trees surrounding the area. There they’ll wait until the mages come to take back the town from them.

Anaida was indeed reminded of how her mages have grown since they joined. In this case it was Aaron who showed improvement by questioning her previous words with what she assumed was hostility. Eh so you don’t like to be called kid uh? Watch you tone with me boy, you ain’t done growing just yet, she thought to herself with what may have been a smirk. A devilish grin on her face, Anaida reached out grabbing Aaron’s head and putting him into a headlock while messing up his hair. “You’re still but a kid Aaron, so stop acting like a know it all.” she teased. Looking up she saw Virgil approach her, something she found amusing seeing as he normally stayed away from the presence of people.

"Ma'am? Everyone seems ready to go, or close to. When do we depart?" Giving him a questioning glance, Anaida continued to hold Aaron in a head lock. Looking around the guild hall, Anaida realized Virgil was right so with that she let go of Aaron by pushing him aside. Of course the older woman made sure to glance back at him with a small smile on her lips. Clearing her throat Anaida stood with her hands on her hips and a mean smile, “Alright everyone! Time to get going! Hurry up into your groups, you can formulate plans as we reach Annandale!”

Looking back over at Virgil, “Let’s get going shall we?” Anaida waited for some of the other members to get on their way before getting some of her own things ad heading out.



Their trip to Annandale was relatively fast thanks to some of the other members magic. Soon enough they stood at the outskirts of the town’s perimeter, watching the town from a distance. Anaida had them stop since some didn’t realize there was a magical barrier around the town. Walking up to the barrier, Anaida looked up at it before placing her hands against it. “Looks like they were expecting us, or they just didn’t want anyone to leave. It doesn’t look strong,” she spoke to herself, “Lets test it out.” pulling her arm back, the air around it rippled with magic and it seemed to change shape, but just as quickly as it came it went. In that instance Anaida punched the barrier with all her might. Stepping back while shaking her hand, Anaida watched the barrier as it began to crack where she had punched it. Frowning a bit she walked forwards to it and gave it a good punch but without the use of her magic. The cracks finally began to spread outwards until finally the barrier shattered completely. With a triumph humph, Anaida smiled turning to look back at her mages, “Alright now, no need for me to tell you what to do. Go find these dark mages and drive em out of this town.”

Seto remained in silence for the majority of the trip, speaking only to answer any questions that were directed at him. He was rather annoyed that he couldn't just slink off and do his own thing, but if he had to be grouped with anybody, it would definitely be Virgil and Elizabeth. Fortunately, the trip wasn't a particularly long one, so it wouldn't be long before Seto could do what he did best.

Seto made sure to take a couple of steps back once Anaida drew her arm back to punch the barrier; it was never a good idea to get to close to her when she was punching things. Seto watched in admiration as she took down the barrier with only a couple of punches, expending a minimum amount of magic. Woe betide whichever dark mages were unfortunate to cross the path of the guildmaster.

“Alright now, no need for me to tell you what to do. Go find these dark mages and drive em out of this town.”
Seto definitely didn't need to be told, and began walking calmly but briskly into the town, resting his left hand on the hilt of his katana, and motioned for Virgil and Elizabeth to follow him with his right.

Seto hadn't gone too far into the town when a loud "Hyaaaaaaah!" erupted from behind a bush, along with its source, a man requipping an axe as he leaped. However, the process was stopped by a katana being driven through his gut, making him lose focus and drop to the ground, clutching at his wound in an attempt to lessen the blood loss. Seto knelt down and used the tip of the man's cape to wipe his katana clean, before pressing it lightly against the man's neck.
"Don't worry, you'll live. I know the human body's weak points like the back of my hand." Seto reassured his terrified victim, who was now dripping with cold sweat, "Providing you tell me what I want to know, that is."
The dark mage merely stared at Seto in dumbfounded terror, so Seto pressed his katana slightly harder against the man's throat, drawing a small droplet of blood.
"Anything!" The dark mage suddenly burbled, "I'll tell you anything, just don't kill me!"
"That's better." Seto stated with an eerie smile, "Who's in charge around here, are they feared and respected, and where can I find them?"
"G-guildmaster Kisara." The dark mage began, "S-she runs ev-everything here. W-w-we always do as she says, u-unless you say otherwise!" Seto drew his katana back from the dark mage's neck slightly to make it easier for him to speak, "I think she's in the manor house, but I'm not sure. I don't know any more than that, I swear!"
"If someone were to incapacitate this Kisara, would the rest of you have the sense to stop fighting?" Seto inquired, making sure that the edge of his katana was still gently grazing the dark mage's neck.
"P-probably?" He stammered, "I-I th-think..."
His head slumped backwards and his eyelids slowly closed. He was still breathing; he had merely passed out, most likely from a mixture of terror and blood loss. He had been nice enough to co-operate, and Seto had never really had any intention of killing the man in the first place, merely to make him frightened enough to talk. He sealed the man's wound with dark matter and returned him to his bush, so that he would be out of the way.

"Well, that was easy." Seto smiled to his team-mates as he sheathed his katana, hoping they weren't too horrified by his rather extreme methods. Old habits died hard.
Seto turned his gaze to the large manor house in the distance. He wondered how strong this Kisara was; it would be nice if she wasn't much stronger than her underlings, but if she was that weak she wouldn't have been able to take the town.
"So, shall we be off?" Seto asked before he began to make his way towards the manor.

Hannah

Although she had been all fired up before the trip, Hannah had enjoyed a fair amount of rest thanks to her guild members taking care of transport. Hannah normally wasn't fond of vehicles, and truth to be told she still did not like it, but after her bout with Seto it gave her a little time to refresh. Not that Hannah thought it was really needed, though. Or maybe that had been her pride talking... Nevertheless, when the town of Annandale came into sight, Hannah jumped up and met the view with the same excitement she had the mission back in the guild.

Hannah hung out of the vehicle's window as Fairy Tail's mages drew closer to the town. The party was about to get started... Hannah jumped out of the vehicle when it stopped and watched as Anaida shattered the barrier. The guild master was strong and it pleased Hannah to know she'd be teaming up with Anaida. She had to suppress her enthusiasm to shout and cheer on her guild as they all moved out.

“Let me scout ahead.” Hannah spoke to Anaida and Aaron softly. Because Hannah was a big part of what made Fairy Tail so loud and noisy, people often forgot that she was in fact an expert huntress and knew the value of subtlety and silence. She put a hand on each of their shoulders, wings popped from her back and Hannah's eyes flickered orange; and with a mighty beating of her wings she took off into the air; flying high above Annandale. So high that any on-looker wouldn't be able to differentiate Hannah a common bird...

Hannah's eagle eyes scoured the ground beneath them; seeing far further than any normal human. Hannah registered the positions of the people she saw, but other teams were already moving into their directions. However, there was one figure (Cind) moving towards the outskirts of town... Where they had just left the vehicles and likely exhausted transport mages. Hopefully Anaida and Aaron were still close, because Hannah did not like the idea of them being left alone with a potential dark mage... Hannah circled far above their heads. If a fight would break loose, Hannah would be in the perfect position to support Anaida and Aaron from above...

Damia Towa Dantz

Damia looked back to see Roxie rather disappointed at his attempt to bring along another member and sighed scratching the back of his head. "I guess you're right," he said. "It would ruin the fun. Though I don't know how dangerous this is going to be." Then again, he had guessed the guild master wouldn't put them all in any serious danger. The Nightmare Hearts didn't sound all too bad. Though, nothing really sounded bad until laying eyes on it. He looked around and dusted off his hands. Still hungry he grabbed a bite, spending the rest of the morning trying to steal food from the kitchen. Luckily he succeeded before Anaida called for them all to leave. Like troops, everyone in the guild left towards the town of Annandale. Trying not to seem to much like he was babying them, Damia kept his eyes on Roxie and Aina, making sure they were still close to him. He didn't really enjoy having to search for people when he needed them. Though, he also had a sense of alertness about him. This mission was different than most mission he was use to going on. Sure he had been on some pretty tough missions before, but he hadn't been on any ones he could call challenging with the girls. His concern was more for his well being then there's. If something were to attack them, he'd have to jump in to defend them. He shuddered at the reaction of Anaida if he were to come from a battle with one of them hurt and him not.
Once the day began to reach it's half, Anaida stopped everyone after breaking the barrier around town saying, “Alright now, no need for me to tell you what to do. Go find these dark mages and drive em out of this town." To which Damia nodded slightly and put his hands in his pockets, walking in a per-determined path.

"Come on girls," he said, looking over his shoulder here and there to make sure they were still with him. [color=grey]"In about an hour we should eat again. I'm starving." The boy had no idea where he was going, or who exactly he was looking to find. He came up with all sorts of ideas of the type of people that could be affiliated with a guild called Nightmare Hearts. Of course the images that ran through his mind were mostly things that you would find in a horror story of some sort. Mostly things that wouldn't be scary to meat in broad daylight. He snickered to himself at the thought of seeing a pale faced demon of a person. He actually wished he could see something like that. It'd give him something to laugh at. "Okay, so listen girls. If someone comes and they seem strong, let me fight in front okay? I don't want you two getting hurt by someone crazy." He realized he was sounding kind of like an adult. It wasn't a good feeling, but he figured it was what he was supposed to say at a time like this. Though, he wasn't going to leave that bad taste in his mouth. He grinned slyly and went around the girls and put himself in between them. Kneeling down he whispered,"I hope we don't have to go against the monster of Nightmare Hearts." Though he knew nothing of the guild and was pretty sure there wasn't a monster, he kept on his facade of knowing everything to give the girls a little scare. "Yes, I hear he especially likes to use his magic to summon demons that eats children to get stronger. I think I was told the ages range between thirteen and sixteen. Oh but, we have nothing to worry about." He tried to hold his composure and keep serious. "Well at least I don't. You girls should let me lead okay. I'll fend him off." Whether, the story worked or not, he didn't really care. It was more for his amusement anyway. However, he made sure to keep front during their walk.

A look of surprise crossed her face briefly before she grinned, “That’s the whole point silly.” Once Anaida called for their departure Roxie was a bundle of energy, constantly walking ahead or away from the main group which worried Dami as she knew it would. Heck the small girl would even play a couple pranks on some of them just to boost their morale. After about half a day had passed they finally arrived at the outskirts of the town they were to free. Roxie with her hands laced behind her head was about to walk right up to the barrier before Anaida stopped them. Frustrated at having been stopped upon closer inspection she could barely see the magical barrier that was inside, “Oh well good thing I didn’t hit that.” scratching her chin absent-mindedly. ““Alright now, no need for me to tell you what to do. Go find these dark mages and drive em out of this town."

Roxie grinned once more, running after Dami. While running towards him she hooked her arm around Aina so that she knew where they were at. “Wait up Damia!” she called out to him before finally catching up to her much larger friend. In about an hour we should eat again. I'm starving." Roxie frowned at this statement, “You’re always hungry Dami. I bet you’ll eat all of our food before we even need to.” she said condescendingly. The young girl raised a brow at the snicker that slipped through his mouth, Roxie knew him well enough that something wasn’t quite right. “"Okay, so listen girls. If someone comes and they seem strong, let me fight in front okay? I don't want you two getting hurt by someone crazy." Roxie could only stare him, her mouth slightly ajar at his statement. “For your information I am not a kid. I think I can handle myself if need be.” Glaring at her friend at the corner of her eye with her arms crossed.

She walked a bit quicker so she was now in the front but what he said next made her falter. "I hope we don't have to go against the monster of Nightmare Hearts." Roxie turned to look back at him a look of worry on her face at the word monster. Yes, I hear he especially likes to use his magic to summon demons that eats children to get stronger. I think I was told the ages range between thirteen and sixteen. Oh but, we have nothing to worry about,’ Roxie continued to stare at him, "Well at least I don't. You girls should let me lead okay. I'll fend him off." Finally Roxie put two and two together; she already knew that their Guild Master didn’t know much about their opponents to someone like Dami couldn’t possibly know who they were to go up against. “Okay so that’s how you want to play then so be it.” a mischievous glint in her eye Roxie walked up to him with her hands behind her and a smug smile on her lips. “Fine then, you stay in front oh Mr. Protector of the Children.” sarcasm seemed to drip from her tongue especially at the word children.


They walked for what Roxie considered to be forever until they finally reached the outskirts of a park. Roxie couldn’t really see anyone but the air had an ominous feel to it. “I wonder when we’ll come across those dark mage.” she asked to none in particular. Suddenly a duck or rather a toy duck waddled across their path. Upon seeing them the thing seemed to panic and waddled quickly in the direction Roxie and company were heading towards. “Hey, what’s with that duck? Should we follow it?” looking up to Dami. However she didn’t wait long for an answer before she began to walk at a brisk pace to catch up to the toy.

The toy duck startled at the sight of Roxie and began circling on it's tiny wheels before it darted off into the park. There however, Roxie would find herself suddenly staring in the depths of the abyss. Twenty or so dark mages leered right back...

“This isn't a place for little girls...” A lanky, hooded man stepped forward and snarled, “Especially not for fairies.” He took off his hood and revealed the mark of Nightmare Hearts tattoo'd right across his face. Quickly backing him up were other dark mages, all male, and most of questionable taste like the hoodlum. They slowly began to surround Roxie like a pack of cackling hyenas, “Especially not alone...”

“Just get on with it already.” A bored, female voice sounded from further back in the park. A woman with pink hair, still sitting on a guild mate crossed her legs and rested her chin in her hand. “The sooner you pluck their wings, the better.” She said, although she wasn't even looking at the men. Instead, her eyes followed the tiny duck-toy that scurried back to her and picked it up. It had been the woman that had lured the Fairy Tail mage into this trap...

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Aina smiled brightly at her two comrades, and quickly hurried off to her selected room within the Guild to ready a pack. However, once she was behind a closed door, alone, her facade dropped and Aina set into motion. She packed a bag, weather there was weapons or extra food in it, no one would know for sure, but she moved around her room swiftly and silently. She easily changed into more battle friendly clothes - a loose light pink shirt with a tighter fitting black undershirt and dark, tight fitting pants, with black boots - before she slung her bag over her shoulder and turned towards the picture by the bed of an old man.

She stared at it for a moment, her eyes hard and face stoic. "I remember my promise," She spoke aloud, her voice different from the one she had used earlier, her tone was hard and strong. "I wont fail you." She turned from the room then, not sure if she'd ever return, and headed out with everyone else.

. . .

It only took half a day for everyone to reach their appointed destinations. During most of that time, Aina had silently been following her teammates. She was certain she had chosen wisely in her team, if her true colors had to come out at any point during this mission, Aina would be able to convince both Daima and Roxie to keep their silence. At first Aina had been upbeat and talkative, but as they got closer to the dark Guild, she grew silent and grim.

With a dreadful feeling in her stomach, she watched as their guild master broke down a magic barrier, and then addressed everyone with oopth. “Alright now, no need for me to tell you what to do. Go find these dark mages and drive em out of this town.” Aina moved to follow her team. "Come on girls," Daima said, looking over his shoulder at the two of them. "In about an hour we should eat again. I'm starving." Aina glanced at Roxie, taking in the other girls words before she nodded in agreement.

"Okay, so listen girls. If someone comes and they seem strong, let me fight in front okay? I don't want you two getting hurt by someone crazy." Aina stopped short for a moment, her mouth opening and shutting as she titled her head to the side. She opted to not say anything on the subject, for fear that her true colors would show sooner than she would have liked today. Instead, Aina zoned out the twos bickering, and focused on where they were going.

The small girl watched their surrounding with keen, well trained eyes, she watched silently as the shadows of unseen figures danced around them, following them. She remained silent about the subject of them being followed, unless one of the others said something, she would like to see how this plays out.

“I wonder when we’ll come across those dark mage.” Roxie spoke suddenly, breaking Aina's focus. Suddenly a toy duck waddled across their path, however the sight of the group made the small toy waddle off in a hurried panic. Aina could already see where this was going. “Hey, what’s with that duck? Should we follow it?” Aina sighed as the two followed the duck. She stayed further behind, watching carefully, planning out her next move.

“This isn't a place for little girls...” Aina stood back as twenty of more dark mages suddenly appeared around her teammates. A lanky, hooded man stepped forward and snarled, “Especially not for fairies.” She watched as he took off his hood and revealed the mark of Nightmare Hearts tattoo'd right across his face.

Aina, taking the chance that she had yet to be spotted, quickly transformed to match the dark mages that surrounded her team. She moved forward to stand with the other mages, blending in easily and giving the impression to her teammates that she had abandoned them. The Nightmare Hearts mages had no clue. “Especially not alone...” She stood silently, taking in everything.

“Just get on with it already.” A female called out, sounding bored. “The sooner you pluck their wings, the better.” Aina stood silently for another moment, giving her teammates the time to asses the situation, before she set into action. She started at the back of the group, taking out as many Dark mages as possible before they started to notice their numbers dropping until she was closer to her team.

With a simple flick of her wrist purple fire shot from her finger tips, forming a circle around her team, blocking them from the mages. Silently, Aina walked towards the fire, and as she passed through it her disguise melted, allowing her true appearance to be shown. The flames lifted for the small girl, allowing her to pass through unharmed, and she stepped up beside her team.

"She's not alone, old woman." Aina's voice was hard and cold, very different then what her teammates were used to, and with a sweep of her hands, the purple flames shot outwards, away from her team, and onto the dark mages.

Pained screams echoed through the park.

To Damia's displeasure his tall tale didn't seem to sink into the young girls head. Not that he was expecting it to anyway. He heard a sigh and turned to see Aina. She was sure acting strange today, but that might've been because she was scared. 'Poor thing,' Damia thought. 'Probably isn't used to this kind of thing.' Then again it hit him that he didn't actually know what her rank was. He'd never seen her in any sort of action before. Looking to see Roxie taking off as soon as she spoke he followed her, walking faster than usual. "Roxie wait up," he yelled behind her. "You shouldn't go chasing animals. Especially not real ones."

“This isn't a place for little girls...” A lanky, hooded man stepped forward and snarled, “Especially not for fairies.”

Damia ran towards Roxie and stared at the man as if he was trying to threaten him with his gaze. He had a feeling in his gut they had just met face to face with there enemy. Especially when he took off his hood. He thought it'd be easy to just deal with the man until another one came out. “Especially not alone...” another man said and came out of the woodwork with his allies. Now that Damia was standing next to his friend he moved himself in front of her.

"Yeah, and what are you going to do about it," he asked, sounding quite mad at the fact that someone would pick on a little girl.

“Just get on with it already.” Damia looked around to see a woman, who was further from there location. The first noticeable detail was her pink hair and the second was the look of her chair. It was actually a person. A male by the looks of it. There was no way someone would let another person do that too them if they weren't the leader. “The sooner you pluck their wings, the better.”

Damia was about to reach in his pocket and pull out ruby before he was interrupted by a couple of the mages dropping to the ground, which surprised him and the other mages. Not long after flames circled around him and Roxie and he was sure that they didin't come from him, for he hadn't even touched Ruby yet, and he knew it wasn't an enemies magic, because it didn't seem to be a threat to him and the girl. Looking back at Aina, his eyes widened to see that she had walked through the flames as if she controled them, which would make a lot of sense. Though, even though he thought the surprises were over, her tone dumbfounded him as she said, "She's not alone, old woman."

As if that was the order, the flames flew away from their location and towards the dark mages, sending most of them in a panic frenzy of pain and confusion. Many of them were on fire and screaming loudly, which sort of made Damia feel sorry for them. The boy sighed and reached in his pocket, not for Ruby, but for the sapphire crystal. "You guys look like you need some water," he grinned. "Allow me to give you some. Sapphire water cannon!!!" With the words said, he pointed the crystal at one of the men and just like a cannon, water shot at the man drenching him and flinging him away. He repeated suit with the other screaming men and even some of the men who weren't burned. However, giving him more surprise, the fires didn't evaporate. With everyone on the ground he turned off the water and chuckled. "Hehe. Seems I went a little overboard. Sorry gents. Don't worry though, I still have enough water for your other friends."

Damia turned his gaze to the woman and her other men. "I hope you guys have learned your lesson. You should just give up and come in silently. I'm pretty sure the magic council will be lenient on you if you come quietly." In truth, he was hoping not to have to fight anyone. They had won the initiation with the element of surprise, but now that they were all known and the enemy was free to use their magic, it seemed as if the fight would be tough, to say the least. He also didn't know what the leader of the group could do herself and rather had not seen it. Though, he expected not have an easy ride. He was going to ask Aina to take off the fires, but only if they were going to surrender. There was no point in having more people to fight just for an act of kindness.

Shin had taken off later than most of the guild in aide to the town of Annandale. First he double checked to make sure the batch of scrolls he usually held on his person for emergency were still there (they were) but more importantly, he had to return home for his staff. It wasn't something he usually carried with him anymore, but back in the day it had served as his companion for long travels and many battles. He wasn't getting it for nostalgic purposes so much as recognition that his age wouldn't allow him to walk the distance without some form of help himself.

Trip to his house left him roughly thirty minutes behind schedule. The trip itself was also grueling, more than once he had to stop on account of his age. However, years of magical combat left him more than a little sensitive to such emanations even over vast distances.

"I'm getting far too old for this." Shin found himself cursing his age while willing the spell Meteor into being and increasing his speed. His bones protested the burden of the added force, but a trip that would have taken him many more hours was compressed into moments. Shin released his spell upon arrival, gasping for breath and trying to ascertain exactly where it was he needed to go to make the most use of himself. His better proximity now revealed that he wasn't picking up one magical emanation, but two massive pulses in two separate areas and a bunch of smaller ones in between forming too much background noise.

" Were I twenty years younger, this would be much easier," Shin more hobbled than walked through the town gate. He'd have to make his pick relatively soon, he saw an intersection coming up ahead. However, he found himself feeling younger with each step and eventually found himself calling out loud and healthily for all to hear.

" Yamamoto Shinzaemon reporting to the field, those who are brave- step forth for your punishment. Cowards who would attempt otherwise, leaving now may keep me from overtaking you!" Shin felt his heart pounding with his bold proclamation, even the potential thrill of combat dulling the aches and weaknesses of decades of life.

"Yamamoto Shinzaemon reporting to the field, those who are brave- step forth for your punishment. Cowards who would attempt otherwise, leaving now may keep me from overtaking you!"
Boreas' ears pricked at the call, causing him to turn his head and look towards its source. What was more, the voice seemed oddly familiar, but Boreas couldn't quite place his finger on where he had heard it before. Maybe it was just someone who sounded like one of his victims. The voice seemed remarkably composed, though, and Boreas' victims rarely were. He looked down at the voice's source; it appeared to be an elderly gentleman, one with a walking stick, no less. He had been right; the mayor had only found some second-rate guild that resorted to sending old men off to complete jobs. There was no way that the old crow would be capable of any resistance, so Boreas decided he'd have some fun with him.

However, the first to answer Shinzaemon's call was not Boreas. It was a lower-ranking mage, who charged out to face him, readying a fireball. However, it never left his hands, but not because Shinzaemon stopped him. Instead, a gust a wind caused the flame to gutter out, before a stronger gust slammed him face-down into the cobbles. Just as he began to try to pick himself up, Boreas descended upon him from above, using the palm of his hand to force the mage's head into the pavement. There was a sickening crunch as the mage's skull shattered between the cobblestone it lay on and the heel of Boreas' hand, killing him instantly.
"How irksome." Boreas sighed as he stood and kicked away his ally's corpse, showing not even the slightest hint of remorse as he did so, "It's such a pain when they get in the way. Oh well, there are more where he came from. For now, it looks like it's just the two of us, eh?" Boreas turned his gaze from his blood-stained glove to the old man's face, and his mild frown quickly morphed into an ear-to-ear grin once he got a better look at who his opponent was, "Oh, I remember you. You're part of that Fairy-something guild. Remember me? From Black Fang? I don't believe we ever got the chance to fight. Perhaps this will jog your memory!"
Boreas raised his right palm to the sky and swung his hand down in a chopping motion, firing down a gust of wind at Shinzaemon from above.

It was a short trip to the captured town with minimal problems as far as Elizabeth could see at least with her own group. Perhaps the only bump in the road was the fidgety nature of Seto, displaying his desire to go and be off as the dark hero to save the wayward town. Yet under the watchful eyes of Anaida, Elizabeth knew the swordsman would not even attempt to slink away from his team. As the guild master easily destroyed the barrier to the town with her fists alone, Elizabeth mentally praised Seto's willpower to resist his need to be the single hero as she could easily see that those punches were just the smallest of ones compared to Anaida's actual strength. Flexing her hands out of habit she silently followed Seto's lead as the trio walked into the seemingly deserted town.


A loud "HYAHHHHHHH" broke the unsettling silence as the owner of the voice attempted a 'sneak' attack only to be a victim of Seto's blade. Elizabeth rolled her eyes at the attempt ~Sneak attacks only work when the target is attempting to be quiet~ she thought with amusement as Seto's interrogation tactics had the dark mage mentally pissing himself. Eventually the coward let a torrent of information fall from his lips at the request of Seto's none too polite tactics, effective but brutal. A scoff of disgust came from Elizabeth as the coward slumped forward into the dust of the road as Seto had gained all the information he had needed so it seemed. The swordsman merely put away his blade before gesturing the group forward with a 'Shall we be off?" and took the lead once more heading toward an extravagant mansion the supposed headquarters of the dark guild.

~What a bizarre town this is~ Elizabeth thought as the once again unnatural silence settled around the trio. Not even a single dog or bird had made any noise upon the group's arrival into the town. Pursing her lips for a moment Elizabeth decided to break the silence with an inquiry "So have your interrogation tactics always been so....forceful Seto? Not that I am surprised or anything you have always been a man of action rather than words." Her tone was polite enough with just a small amount of curiosity. A faint chill went up her spine as she suddenly stopped in her tracks as the trio reached the entrance to the mansion's courtyard "Is anyone else feeling..odd about this silence. It's not natural at all..". Easing her book from its halter at her waist, she wordlessly flipped through blank pages before settling on one. Placing the item on the dusty road, it's page fluttering slightly as a slight breeze came through the town as crimson droplets fell on the pristine pages as Elizabeth dragged the sharpened tip of her quill across her fingertips, clenching her fist allowing blood to flow faster onto the pages as words barely legible began to form on the page surrounding a bloodied emblem of a man shrouded in shadow

"Let the pages of past stories be continued through the gallant lies and words of the Rouge.Begin the chapter now" Elizabeth's voice broke the silence as a torrent of pages ripped from the book as the crimson words spread apart onto each torn page..the pages glided in an eerie fashion around the trio with an individual word in elegant penmanship was visible pickpocket..liar..thief...lover. The paper was the word "Lover" was quickly snatched out of view from Seto and Virgil by Elizabeth's quick hand as faint crimson spotted on her cheeks as her lips hissed at the book "Start the chapter now". A disembodied chuckle seemed to echo through the air as the pages once again conjugated along the book before slamming shut as the owner of the voice assembled behind it "Still not one for showmanship, Elizabeth...or telling secrets so it seems". The voice was warm and distinctly male as gentleman wearing a black top hat, torn and frayed yet matching an equally worn down suit. His eyes, a mischievous green behind shaggy auburn hair. A different type of crimson coloring appeared on Elizabeth's face as she struggled to control her surge of anger toward the 'showman' "Stop talking and get to work". Her tone was serious and cold as the Rouge merely shrugged nonchalantly before scaling up the side of a nearby building with ease. Elizabeth's hand clutched around the offensive paper before letting out a small sigh and picking up the leather bound book, dusting it off with her free hand. Returning the book to its proper place, she began bandaging her fingertips in silence, hoping her two companions were oblivious to the paper.

Minutes passed as nothing happened that was until a familiar face appeared from an alleyway dragging an unconscious mage behind him. A Cheshire smile was on the Rouge face as he presented the mage to the trio before stepping on the man's clutched hand, possibly breaking the bones that were of little concern though. Markings on the man's body faded as the unnatural silence of the environment surrounding the trio was broken, Elizabeth merely dismissed the Rouge with a wave of her hand as a job well done. The troublesome pickpocket merely pouted "What that's all I get for my troubles.." Elizabeth's mouth turned into a firm line as she clutched her hands together resisting the urge to punch the fool. Sensing the woman's temper flare up once again, the Rouge merely put his hands up in a defensive gesture "Relax, I was joking..". Fiddling with her hand wrappings, Elizabeth stated flatly "Chapter End". Nothing happened as the Rouge resisted the pull of the book before grinning once again "You seem to forget I am in fact a thief..I have a tendency to take what I want. What I want is a satisfactory reward for nabbing this moron". Rubbing the bridge of her nose in an effort to ignore her urges of throttling her ever-chatty summon, Elizabeth opened her mouth to dismiss the Rouge once again, her eyes widened as a faintest touch of his lips against hers, feather-light and fleeting. The Rouge form burst into shreds of paper as an amused echo came from the shreds "Thanks for the reward..". Elizabeth stood shell-shocked as the shreds of paper drifted down to her feet as her cheeks flushed the deepest red possible as her voice strained "Well shall we continue now.I doubt without that silence barrier it will be harder for 'stealthier' mages to sneak up on us...

Shinzaemon

Shin couldn't keep an amused, if somewhat sinister smile off his face when he saw a mage rushing towards him. A lifetime of combat experience told him that the opponent wouldn't be worth the effort. When a series of gusts of wind which were quickly followed by their creator eliminated the small fry, Shin's smile broadened just a little more.

"How irksome." Shin honestly agreed with the man's assessment of the situation. After all in his younger days, he'd done things worse than simply crushing a subordinates skull for much less reason than the individual had gotten in the way. "It's such a pain when they get in the way. Oh well, there are more where he came from. For now, it looks like it's just the two of us, eh? The man paused again before a smile of his own appeared before speaking one more time.

"Oh, I remember you. You're part of that Fairy-something guild. Remember me? From Black Fang? I don't believe we ever got the chance to fight. Perhaps this will jog your memory!" When Shin saw the younger man raise his hand for a chopping motion, he immediately warped his own space to match that behind the youth- put simply his body disappeared before reappearing behind the man who'd attacked him. This gave him a great view of the wind based attack, so far this confirmed the one-on-one scenario and he'd fought enough types of magic similar to this to find himself getting bored.

"Yes kid, I'm with Fairy Tail and much like yourself I hate having my time wasted especially by weaklings getting in my way." Shin reached out towards the man without haste or blood lust, his current plan consisted in trapping him in a sphere of space created by Ih Ragdo, but the line about Black Fang sounded vaguely familiar.

[color=orange] "I might have done something the like that, truth be told I honestly can't remember. By the time I was the age of the teenager you crushed, I'd killed and captured so many men it became like whistling, an insignificant thing to pass the time."[/orange] Shin's face became somewhat apologetic during his answer, after all he hadn't been able to answer the man's question. However, if the man lost his cool then things would also get easier on his end.

Boreas flinched slightly when Shinzaemon disappeared into thin air, but was able to use his magic to propel himself into the air in time to avoid the bubble formed by Shinzaemon’s Ih Ragdo. He decided to remain in the air, since it took little energy to levitate and he would be safer from Shinzaemon’s attacks up there.
"You know, for a doddering old geezer, you aren’t bad." Boreas lauded, "I wasn’t expecting to find anyone with a spine in a legal guild. It’s a shame your memory’s going. I was hoping that you’d understand why I’m going to take great pleasure in dismembering you, limb by limb. Other than the sheer thrill of it, of course." Boreas wasn’t about to simply shut up and get on with the fight, though, if he could make Shinzaemon regret his actions in his last moments then perhaps his death would be even more amusing, "Don’t you remember anything about Black Fang? We can’t have been that insignificant, considering you and your fairy friends came out personally to meet us. Do you remember any of the others? What about Gyges?"

Boreas extended a palm towards the ground and released wisps of mist towards the ground below. The wisps a few metres away from Shinzaemon to form a colossal, humanoid figure that stretched the limits of how big a human could possibly get. Despite being made entirely of silvery, translucent mist, it looked remarkably human. It had several distinguishing features other than its colossal stature, such as a long, wiry beard, heavy plate armour, and a battleaxe slung across its shoulders. Its face even seemed to be sculpted into a twisted sneer.
"Big guy with an axe." Boreas explained, rather redundantly, "Liked shouting and hitting things. Not very articulate. And how about Seto?"

Boreas produced more spirals that took form opposite his last creation. This time they formed a man of reasonable size, only he wasn't so much of a man as he was an adolescent. He was a lot more lightly dressed than his counterpart, and instead of a huge battleaxe he had a katana sheathed at his hip. His posture was rigid and upright, and his arms were folded neatly over his chest. His youthful features were marred by an angry scowl that was seemingly directed at Shinzaemon.
"Moody kid; used Shadow Make magic." Boreas continued, "More likely to stab you than talk to you."

Boreas took a moment to survey the scene below him; everything was in place. That of course relied on Shinzaemon not vanishing and somehow popping up behind him again.
"Well, if that wasn't a trip down memory lane, I'm not sure I can help you." He shrugged, "But it's not like you'll have long to remember, anyway."
With a snap of his fingers his creations suddenly sprung to life and slashed forwards with their blades; Gyges swinging his axe vertically towards the ground and Seto swinging his katana in a horizontal arc. Both figures remoulded into razor-edged arcs of wind that hissed through the air and towards Shinzaemon at a breakneck pace.

Before she knew it, she had been surrounded. A look of surprise appeared on her face but fear was not shown. “What the?” “This isn't a place for little girls...” At that moment the look of surprise disappeared and became one of anger as a scowl replaced it. ‘Who the hell you calling little you ugly little shit!?” she growled. "Yeah, and what are you going to do about it, Her anger subsided briefly as Dami stood in front of her which only fueled her anger even more. “Dami get out of the way so I can beat his ass.”

As she was about to attempt to push him out of the way, a woman’s voice was heard and she turned in the direction it had come from. Some old lady was using a guy as a chair, which Roxie personally thought was disgusting. Suddenly a wall of fire surrounded them along with the fall of a few mages. Then Aina showed up, She's not alone, old woman." Soon enough the fire flew away from them and towards the dark mages who panicked at their inability to douse the flames, not even Dami’s magic was putting them out but he sure was having fun spraying them with water.

I hope you guys have learned your lesson. You should just give up and come in silently. I'm pretty sure the magic council will be lenient on you if you come quietly." Roxie merely glared at the back of Dami’s head, stomping her foot as if she were about to throw a tantrum. “Well I for one hope they don’t. I still need to beat a couple of their asses for calling me little. I aint’ little got that.” In a way Roxie did throw a temper tantrum but it was a bit difficult to digest considering the smallest member of the trio still wanted to fight. For the first time in a while, Roxie requiped to her first guitar. The young girl hadn’t been on any missions lately that called for the use of her magic and it seemed today would be the day she finally got to let loose. “Come on can we just beat them up already?” stepping up to stand beside Dami.

“Old?” Winny's expression shifted from bored to annoyed. Her eyebrow twitched a little, but the pink-haired woman soon recomposed herself. With an exaggerated and fake sadness she asked, “Boys, am I getting old?”

The dark mages loudly disagreed. Even those on fire(!) Winny stood up from her chair (which was singing her praises) and summoned a large wind-up key she put in his back; something that put the dark mage into an ecstatic kind of joy. Winny twisted it a couple of times and the man began to shake rapidly and uncontrollably; as if he had a surplus of energy.

“Gustav, be a dear and change these fairies their diapers for me.” Winny instructed, before she let go and the ex-chair burst forward with incredible speed. He ran up a tree and from there jumped right over Aina's flame circle; preparing to deliver a series of kicks that could connect with all three mages at once if they didn't defend their selves.

Winny, meanwhile, retreated to what seemed to be a big bag full of toys. What was in it was a mystery for now, but it didn't spell much good...

((Please ignore, this post is null and void and shall be re-posted after edits are made. In accordance to what Polaris and I have spoken about in Private Messages. ~Lufia))

---

---

Sera got a much later start than everyone else, she had some personal matters to attend to, and there for, she was rushing to catch up. If it were anyone else, they would be half a day behind their guild, since it always took that lot half a day to reach their destination, however Sera was pushing herself to catch up with them. She only rested once, right before she caught up with her guild - so she wouldn't fall over in the middle of a fight. However, when Sera did catch up, it wasn't what she expected at all.

Sera let out a sigh and rubbed the back of her neck. This place was like a silent wasteland, and she didn't seen anyone. "Next time I'm just gonna travel with them, back-up be damned." She grunted as she came to what appeared a cross roads. Sera let out a small growl. She wasn't sure which was to go now, and it wasn't like she could call out to anyone. "There a bunch of bloody grown people, they should be able to take care of themselves." She let out a sigh, and plopped down onto the ground right there, in-between the cross road.

Crossing her legs, Sera closed her eyes, made fists with both of her hands, and put them together as she focused. She could feel the fire in her stomach swirling around restlessly, and she could feel her power reserves slowing building from the three hours of meditation and rest she had prior to arriving here. If Sera could just find someone, she could be of help.

With her enhanced hearing Sera could hear talking not too far away, it was to the left, but to the right she could hear what sounded of a struggle. Two things happened at once though, screams pierced the air and the sound of wind picking up pushed her hair back from her shoulders.

Sera jumped to her feet, her eyes flying open in the process, she took off in a run towards the breeze, instead of the screams. She was following her gut. As she ran, she could make out a voice. "Well, if that wasn't a trip down memory lane, I'm not sure I can help you." There was a pause, she was getting closer. "But it's not like you'll have long to remember, anyway." Sera frowned as she came upon the scene below her, Shin, the old man who often gave her advice, was getting attacked by some weirdos.

In a flash of bright orange, Sera suddenly stood in front of Shin, her arms thrown out as fire gathered in each palm, before she slammed them both together, making one of her favorite yet slightly destructive moves; Dragon's Brilliant Flame. A large wall of fire shot towards the three figures in front of her and Shin, before the fire exploded all together where the enemies had once been, leaving a small but gaping crater in it's wake, though it was clear there had been a chance to escape.

"Woops," She mumbled, looking at the small hole before glancing back at Shin. "Sorry." Sera's face flushed. Undoubtedly he would lecture her for jumping in without thought and intervening in such a manner, but she would pay for the damage done, of course.

---

---

---

---

Aina glanced at her teammates, ignoring the slightly disapproving looking on Dami's face, instead of lowering her fire, she extended it and morphed it, making it wrap around the dark mages and form cages over each of them. Not injuring them, but if any of them tried to touch the fiery purple bars, they would be burned.

“Boys, am I getting old?” Aina rolled her eyes at the woman. Clearly conceded.

She watched silently as she woman summoned what appeared to be a large wind-up key, and put it in what had once been her 'chairs' back. The woman twisted it a couple of times and the man began to shake. A bad feeling started in Aina's gut.

“Gustav, be a dear and change these fairies their diapers for me.” She ordered, and then the man burst forward with a new speed. He ran up a tree and from there jumped right over Aina's flame circle, which made rage fill the small girls stomach. She slamed her hands together as the man - thing prepared to deliver a series of kicks that could connect with all of her team.

Aina wouldn't stand for it. She didn't want to resort to this, but she had little choice. For a second, her pink eyes flashed purple, and then the fire was leaking out of her conjoined palms, and wrapping around her body.

"Gashadokuro, Purple Flare." Her voice rung out high, and then, with a burst of purple light a giant skeleton in-golfed in the purple flames stood in the wake of the small girl. The skeleton reached out and ex-chairs leg, and held it up side down, before throwing it towards the woman who was digging around in a bag.

"Surrender now." Her once high pitched voice came out as a deep leer as she gazed down at the dark mages through the gaping skeleton eyes.

Shinzaemon didn't achieve any further recognition until after his opponent made mention of Seto. The figure was of great likeness and while crude the description was spot on in regards to his 'son's' older character.

" Oh so you're-" Shin had to cut his words short as the figures attacked and merged into a sickle of wind. His defense was simply to step into the prison he'd made earlier with Ih Ragdo. The difference of an additional spacial boundary should easily keep him safe. A gout of flame washed over his sphere instead, from his best bet the heat or the accompanying explosion had been his barrier this time. He knew of only one mage that would be so reckless with that kind of firepower, and sure enough the read hair was cleanly visible as the dust settled. He dispelled his sphere, it would be easier than altering the properties to allow conversation.

"While I must compliment your sense of timing Sera," Shin reflexively crossed his arms while choosing which words to say towards the young dragon slayer. "It would be shameful of me to let you go without some form of lesson on restraint...or for that matter interrupting the conversation I was having with one of Seto's old playmates." At this point Shin turned to hunt for the man in question. From his own appraisal of Sera's explosion, a Wind Mage with that caliber was either smart enough to ride the explosion or fast enough to have gotten out of the way.

"However, in this case...a bit of shame might be necessary. If possible I want to draw more of them here." Shin quickly gave up his hunt, his artificial right eye could see just fine. But the overlap with his nearly blind, natural, left eye made such a task too difficult for him to properly trust his vision.

The arrival of the dragon slayer was quite a surprise to Boreas, but not enough for him to lose his focus. A forceful gust was enough to extinguish the flames that were headed his way, but they had saved Shinzaemon from his attack. Annoyed as he was by the newcomer, the fact that Shinzaemon had now realised who he was brought a twisted smile to his face.
"So I'm not the only one you know." Boreas grinned, "I could ask you why you find Seto so special, but why ask now when I could ask you while you're gargling on your own blood? I'm sure it would make the story much more entertaining; it always does. I'm afraid I don't recognise the girl; perhaps your senility has rubbed off on me. Since this was going to be between the two of us, be a dear and crush her skull for me, would you?" Boreas took a slight pause to add more effect to his question, but didn't leave long enough for Shinzaemon to give him an answer, "No? I levelled the playing field for you, so it's only fair that you do the same, isn't it? Actually, scratch that, I'm sure you'll enjoy watching me tear her limb from limb while you await your own demise. I will, at least."

Boreas turned his attention to the pink-haired young woman, his eerie grin still plastered across his face. She was far younger than Shinzaemon, so with any luck she'd be an easier target, and easier to frighten; Shinzaemon's complete lack of shock after witnessing him murder his own ally in cold blood had been rather disappointing.
"So you're a fire mage, are you?" Boreas asked, but continued before she could give an answer, "I'll have you know the last fire mage I killed took me a grand total of five seconds to take out, but I suppose your righteousness inexplicably makes you better somehow. Just provide me with some entertainment!"
With that, Boreas extended a palm towards her, creating a magic circle that unleashed a flurry small, razor-like projectiles. With any luck this girl wouldn't be nearly as good at dodging as her ally; she didn't look the sort of person who would be. However, as Boreas well knew from working with all manners of peculiar people, looks could be deceiving.

---

The older woman put her hands on her hips, waiting for two individuals to reach her position. She gave no indication of acknowledging Hannah’s suggestion. Anaida rubbed her shoulder shortly after cracking her knuckles. Scowling at the smirk on Aaron’s face, she understood his intent and it was for this reason she didn’t really want to have them along. Looking up above where she assumed Hannah to be, it was near impossible to tell that it was her. The only reason Anaida knew it was her was because she saw her ascend to that location but she knew once they started moving she’d lose sight of Hannah.

Focusing her attention back to the front, she rubbed her shoulder again letting it roll a bit before taking the front position. “Then I guess I will, although I should have you take the lead since you seem intent on showing me your worth as an adult.” A scowl turned smirk made it somewhat obvious she wasn’t trying to be mean, merely stating the truth. Looking back up Anaida scanned the sky for Hannah already well aware of how useless it’d be. The woman just couldn’t help but worry, but mostly wonder, what the girl saw from her positon up above.

They walked for a short while but the distance they covered was a decent amount. The buildings around them seemed vacant in an eerie way. Hidden bodies and glancing eyes were the only hints that there were still people within the town. Anaida took notice of the small amounts of damage, which surprised her since normally Dark Guilds that take over a town ended up decimating most of it. What was not a surprise was a small house whose appearance made it obvious a fight had occurred there of the magical sort. Starting to get bored, Anaida wondered when they would meet a Dark Mage. She would be perfectly fine if they went straight to the center however Anaida wouldn’t mind having a little sparring match to make sure she hadn’t lost her touch.

Something up ahead caught her attention, a figure heading their way. Standing in place, Anaida squinted from where she stood trying to get a better look at this figure. She already knew that they were part of the Dark Guild since the townsfolk were too scared to even venture outside the safety of their own homes. “Looks like we have company” shifting so she got out of Aaron’s view, the figure was closer now and guessing from their physique their soon to be opponent was a man.

"So have your interrogation tactics always been so... forceful, Seto?"
"Oh, I used to be worse." Seto answered in a very matter-of-fact manner, "Much worse."
While Seto was hardly going to lie, he did not go into a great amount of detail, as he preferred to keep the details of his past to himself. The only members of the guild he had told about it were those who had already been there when he joined, and even then Shinzaemon was the only one he had told his life story to. Of course, Elizabeth could have been tipped off by someone who had been in the guild for longer, but she was a sensible woman, not the sort who might expect professional assassins to show any mercy.

"Is anyone else feeling... odd about this silence? It's not natural at all..."
"I admit, it is a bit odd," Seto replied, "But the villagers will all be hiding in their homes, waiting for us to finish our job. I would, however, expect to see more dark mages, but perhaps they just don't want to be stabbed."
Seto watched inquisitively as Elizabeth summoned the Rogue through what seemed to be a rather long ritual, part of which Elizabeth clearly didn't want her two companions to see, as she wasted no time in snatching one of the floating pages out of the air. Seto was able to make out a "ver" jutting out from under Elizabeth's tightly clenched fist. He was rather curious as to what the rest of the word was, but he doubted he'd get any answers from Elizabeth.

Seto watched the Rogue go about his work rather intently. He had never actually seen Elizabeth's magic in action before, and was rather interested in how it worked. Unfortunately, Seto didn't get to learn much about how it worked, as the Rogue scuttled off fairly quickly. What he did get to learn was that it did work; it didn't take long for the artificial silence to lift and the Rogue to return with an unconscious dark mage. While his work had been laudable, his actions against Elizabeth before allowing himself to be dispelled certainly were not; had he been a human as opposed to a magical spirit he would find himself facing (quite likely several) charges of sexual harassment. However, Seto could not pass up the opportunity to tease Virgil.
"Looks like someone has a competitor." Seto chuckled as he gave Virgil a knowing look.

"Well, shall we continue now?"
"I believe that would be best." Seto responded, and wasted no time in pressing onwards towards the mansion.

Upon actually reaching the mansion's front doors it seemed that they were locked, but that was going to be a problem.
"Shadow Make: Gauntlets." Seto chanted as he summoned dark matter around his arms, drew his left back and proceeded to strike the door at full force. The burst of dark energy was enough to reduce the door to a pile of splinters, and revealed a rather confused and shocked dark mage in the mansion's hallway. Before he could decide whether to run or defend the mansion, Seto was upon him. Seto's gauntleted fist sent him sprawling onto the floor, unconscious.
"How did this guild ever manage to take the town in the first place?" Seto mused aloud, "We haven't run into a single capable fighter so far."
Seto looked down the hallways and noticed no other dark mages, so he dispelled his gauntlets and turned back to his companions.
"Well, this mansion isn't exactly small, and this Kisara could be anywhere in it, so I suggest we split up." Seto suggested, his desire to slink off on his own becoming painfully obvious, "We'll cover more ground, and we need only shout to alert each other of this Kisara's location."

"Scum like you, who would hurt your own comrades, don't deserve to be in a guild!"
Boreas barely had time to avoid the girl's attack, but was able to lurch backwards and summon a wall of wind to protect himself from any flames that strayed to far towards him. However, he could still feel the intensity of the heat even through his wind barrier, as if it shared the dragon slayer's rage.
"Oh please, spare me your lectures." Boreas groaned condescendingly as he regained his footing, "Perhaps you're the one who doesn't deserve to be in a guild; you are acting rather recklessly. So recklessly in fact, that because of your impulsive actions," Boreas was suddenly silent as he snapped his fingers, releasing a powerful blast of air that smashed in the roof of the house behind him, causing him to grin maniacally, "Civilians might get hurt."

Boreas turned around to admire his handiwork, all but forgetting Sera's presence. The roof had completely caved in and the window panes had completely shattered. No noise but the sound of the occasional brick tumbling could be heard from within.
"I wonder how many people were in there." Boreas pondered aloud, "Maybe there was nobody in there, hence the dull lack of any reaction. Although that's being rather pessimistic, maybe there were a couple and their child in there, trying to cower away from the conflict outside, only to find themselves right in the middle of it. Perhaps the lack of noise is due to the fact that they were all crushed by the rubble instantly. Or maybe," The pitch of Boreas' voice was now beginning to rise slightly with excitement, "Maybe the child is still alive in there, but she is struck dumb by the pain of being buried under rubble and the horror of having to gaze upon her slain parents? Well, we'll never know until someone clears the rubble." Boreas turned around to face his opponents again, the sneer on his face growing ever wider, "Shall I do it again?"

Shin sighed when he saw Sera's reaction to the wind mage's provoking...at this rate he'd have to settle with one encounter at a time and risk running out of energy. However, one benefit of Sera's barrage of flames was that it allowed him to walk towards a location that gave him a straight shot behind him. Better yet, his good eye told him that he could cover the distance with one teleportation. The issue was the young man seemed rather adept at psychological warfare. Shin couldn't speak for Sera, but Shin's senses as a warrior told him the potential of civilians still being around was zero.

"Shall I do it again?"

Shin used that as his window to attack, his teleportation was off; he was more above the young man than behind.

" You talk too much," Shin resorted to his original magic at this point. He'd already put his hands forward before moving, as such he merely released the spell Heavenly Beams. It was his fastest attack and he'd launched at close range, however its power was very low. To prevent a strong gust from blowing his own attack back into his own face, Shin forced himself to warp his own space again to gain even more height. His maneuver more than doubling his current distance to the ground, belatedly he recognized this left him in his opponents territory.

Shin halted his momentum by solidifying the space immediately beneath himself. The improvised platform giving him both a better view, while simultaneously making him something of a target.

"Besides, any survivors would have already begun screaming long ago. They've either run or more likely, are dead... am I right?" Shin hoped to buy some time to reorient himself through conversation. His dulled reflexes were still trying to adjust to his former position. He took a knee, clearly his earlier state of excitement would be needed if he wanted to keep up or win. The sensation of his old staff pressed against his forehead brought him some focus, and he was at least grateful when the sensation of the world spinning began to fade.

He could see them, almost as clear as day, his new playthings. These Official Guilds and their need to save the day sickened him. They were just some annoying little pests that needed to be taught a lesson.

From where he stood, Cind could count two people. The idea of their being a third individual or even more crossed his mind, as well as the idea that these people may just be some townsfolk but of course he dismissed both ideas. There was no way any of the townsfolk would dare venture outside the safety of their own homes. Of course they were wrong in thinking they were safe by placing up some measly little brick walls between themselves and the Dark Guild. We'd just break it down in one way or another. What fools. Snorting with a shake of his head, the pair finally became clear.

There was an older woman accompanied by a young man. "Oh what’s this? An old cougar and her little boyfriend. Is this really all they had, this so called Fairy Tail. They send an old hag and a youngster to take us out. You must be mistaken and I'll show you." A sneer took place on his lips as he began to form his magic. A dark substance began to fall away from him, but it was airy and it didn't seem to have any solidity to it.

With that same sneer still on his face, Cind motioned with his hands towards the pair. In reaction the black substance followed his movements, swirling and kicking right for the two.

It didn’t take long for the first couple of mages to enter the area surrounding the mansion. Watching from the tower that was a part of the guard house, Kisara wasn’t all that surprised that the mages were unaware of Oliver’s’ and her presence. Sitting with one knee bent under her chin, Kisara watched them with amusement glittering in her eye. Now wouldn’t be the best time to confront these little mages, it’d be one on three. Glancing over at Oliver she knew he wouldn’t mind her counting him out in a fight. Even with his precognition, it wouldn’t be good to rely on solely his precognition in a fight against experienced mages.

Unlike those who had gone out to deal with those in wondering the town. Kisara was well aware of the surprises that come with fighting a mage. Just because they looked weak or were too young meant nothing in this world. The woman had seen it enough times as well as experienced it first-hand. Thinking back on it, Kisara realized she could also be counted in one of those surprises when she was younger but she wasn’t sure if it would count now that she was older and it was expected of her. The very idea of having some of the mages in her Guild assume she’s the guild master for being the strongest was a foolish notion.

From the looks of things the only female amongst the three mages had a rather interesting magic. From her vantage point it was a bit difficult to see what exactly she had done but there was some sort of commotion going on between her and whatever it was she had made. A man? That very man scaled the walls with ease. Standing up so to follow the movements of this man Kisara glimpsed at the scuffle between him and one of her mages. “Pitiful but they were smart in doing so.” looking over her shoulder at Oliver, “Looks like we can’t surprise them here.” she said with a shrug of her shoulders as she followed the man back to her original position. The silence barrier she had the mage put up was no more as the sounds of their surroundings came back.

Once the barrier was down the trio ventured off towards the mansions doors. Standing up once more, she turned to Oliver beckoning to follow her. “It would be best that we get moving.” Taking the stairs to the ground floor of the watch tower she made sure to keep hidden by whistling a soft tune. It was only temporary and it really wasn’t the greatest trick in the world but for the time being it would keep any mages from really seeing her and Oliver. They’d only be able to see them at the corner of their eyes but it would be near impossible to actually look at Oliver and her directly.

She caught up to the trio just in time to see one of the men reduce the main doors to nothing but splinters. Oh a shadow mage, this should be quite interesting. The ends of her lips curling to form a Cheshire like smile. Kisara followed after the trio making sure to keep her distance from them but enough for her to watch them. It began to annoy her that their apparent leader was referring to her as “this Kisara”. The small spell she put herself and Oliver under kept the trio from noticing their presence as well as any sound they made but she would soon have to dispel it in order to take a proper breathe. That was really the only downfall in using this particular spell, but that never kept her from using it.

As the trio eventually split up she followed the one who had yet to show their magic. Pausing just enough to speak to Oliver, a sly look on her face. “Why don’t we play a bit of cat and mouse.” Focusing her attention back at the man (Virgil) she quickly stepped around him making sure to brush against him lightly so he’d know of a presence. Making sure to stay just outside of his peripheral vision as she let go of her spell for just a moment, Kisara made a quiet sound that could have been a giggle but as soon as she did she took a proper breathe and resumed her spell from earlier. It seemed Kisara was having fun in playing with the fellow (Virgil) her spell’s effects and her randomly dropping it could make any one person rather paranoid about them not being alone. With Oliver’s help Kisara was able to stay out of range of some of his attacks to the being that was accompanying him but none met their mark. The fellow continued to unwilling follow Kisara as she led him to one of the artifacts. This one would be better suited in dealing with the fellow and soon enough they entered a large chamber.

Turning around to make sure where it was she had placed the artifact, a smile fell upon her lips when her eye caught hold of a small urn. There we go walking over to its location Kisara pulled Oliver close, “I need you to throw this at our friend here and then run.” kicking the urn to Oliver’s feet Kisara brought a hand to head as if in salute and dropped her spell. Virgil would finally be able to see who it was that had been tormenting him but it was already too late. “Now!” the moment Oliver threw the urn at Virgil Kisara raised her hand, snapped her fingers and motioned towards where Virgil stood. A small circle of sound formed around her fingers which then left her hand and straight for the urn. It was almost like throwing a rock but without the rock. The moment it came into contact with the urn it exploded.

Suddenly a flash of light could be seen accompanied by a strong pulling sensation like a black hole. The urn swirled sucking up everything within a few feet of where it was and one of those things was Virgil. Even the ground around him was taken with. The light then went out and the urn fell to the ground spinning a bit until it settled on the ground as if nothing happened. “Well that gets rid of one person now for the girl.”

---

"You talk too much."
"I like to think that I just have lots of interesting things to say." Boreas shrugged, "Besides, would you rather the last moments of your life were filled solely with the noises of conflict?"
Boreas responded to Shinzaemon's attack by shredding the beams with a wall of wind, smirking triumphantly as the beams of light broke against his shield of wind. He had not been expecting the old geezer to pull heavenly body magic from his sleeve, but he didn't seem too capable with it.

"Besides, any survivors would have already begun screaming long ago. They've either run or more likely, are dead... am I right?"
"Probably not." Boreas sneered, "They'd be screaming a year ago, but not any more. They have the sense to keep quiet if they want any chance of survival. Their screaming can be rather annoying, and you know how I deal with annoyances."
As he spoke, Boreas swirled his hands around in circles, creating a vortex of air that extended higher and higher until eventually it had completely encased all three combatants, the only exit seeming to be the vortex's opening, which seemed almost as high as the clouds.
"Why don't we make this a bit more interesting?" Boreas suggested with a playful smirk, "This is my Storm Wall. Anyone can enter from the outside, but anyone who tries to leave will be shredded by the winds. And it just so happens," Boreas left a short pause in which he snapped his fingers, "That you might be on your way out."
The wind suddenly intensified within the vortex to a strength that was easily enough to impair one's balance, and possibly enough to drive them right into the Storm Wall. Boreas, however, stood perfectly unaffected in the only space of calm air within the Storm Wall, commanding his magic away from himself.

Hannah

There were already fights bursting out and Hannah ached to join one of them. The team of Seto, Elizabeth and Virgil had vanished from her sight and for some reason Aina had summoned a giant skeleton to aid her. Aaron engaged the threat that had been moving towards them, releasing a flash of light. Hannah knew this was the perfect opportunity and needn't think twice to make use of Aaron's attack. Requipping her bow, she pulled back a swallow-infused arrow and fired it towards Aaron's target. The projectiles weren't the strongest, but they would add up. Cind would be assaulted from all kinds of directions, as Hannah released one arrow after the other; each coming from a different arc she ordered her spirit arrows to take. Between her and Aaron, Anaida wouldn't need to lift a finger, Hannah thought.

---

Oliver

Before Kisara could finish, Oliver jerked the back of her top and pulled her around a corner in the room. “We don't want them to see us.” He shrugged casually, as not a few seconds later, Elizabeth appeared where Kisara and Oliver had stood before. She had come running after the sound and would surely notice the urn laying, or more importantly; the gaping hole on the floor!

Oliver though, had a plan... And best of all he could confirm it just by walking around the corner. Stepping into Elizabeth's sight, with a casual smile and a wave, Oliver greeted her; “Welcome to our manor.” He said, making a bow while simultaneously putting his hand on his magic tool as if it was part of the bow. “Oliver L. Eisenhauer, S-rank disassembly mage, at your service.” He lied between his teeth. Oliver's range of expressions and body-language was limited to nonchalant; making it impossible to tell his emotion or intentions except for those trained to do so or very close to him. He could see through his eye the woman wouldn't act recklessly, and this was to his advantage... Because he could foresee what would happen up to five seconds in the future...

“Speaking of disassembly magic, look out, above you!” Oliver yelled as he stretched his hand out to the ceiling just in front of Elizabeth, correctly predicting for her to take a step back at the threat of the roof crashing down on her. Instead, Oliver whipped out his magic weapon as it transformed into a chain, grabbing the urn and flinging it at Elizabeth's position. He then flung it onto a chandelier, to counter-act the force pulling him towards the black hole that it created.

“Did I do good?” Oliver smirked as Elizabeth, like Virgil before her, vanished from the room completely. However, they wouldn't be able to pull the same trick on the third mage, as the urn had began smoking...

“I think this has ran out of magic power, though.”

---

---

Miyuu was relatively confused, especially when she, for some brilliant reason, followed her guildmates to Annandale. Now, she had kind-of figured that something was up, but nothing could prepared her for what was to come. First, was the force field, which looked enough to keep people from entering or exiting. Though from how easily Anaida took it down, a simple Lava Burst would have easily broken the pitiful barrier. Finally, Miyuu understood what her task was in Annandale, hunting down Dark Mages and drive them out of the city.

Miyuu was one of the last to move out, and of course, she was solo in her pursuit, yet she paused before really moving in and spoke, "Anaida, do I have permission to use my Magic?" she asked, knowing what her spells have done caused many lives to be lost, and have the chances to level the whole town. It's not something she wants to repeat again with the mass destruction and loss of life. Miyuu also had the problem of the town's buildings, most of them were wood, which needless to say, burned when extreme heat was close. That and the few times she used it, even her lava burst ability has slipped out of control and left a few craters in the landscape of Fiore.

"Use it if you need to Miyuu." Anaida replied, though continued, "But, try to keep your damage to a minimum, and stay from where you'll do irreversible damage. Soon after, Miyuu moved out, knowing what she has to do to keep all safe. Other than the Dark Mage, they won't get mercy from the little Lavamancer known as Miyuu. Terrorizing a small town reminded Miyuu of her home, where some bandits ran around for a few months. Though this time was different, instead of someone else dealing with them, Miyuu and Fairy Tail has to deal with them, good thing too, she wanted to do something other than sleep in the Guildhouse.

While Miyuu ran around the streets, which it wasn't a super hasty speed, more like a jogging pace, normal for Miyuu on a mission. Typically, Miyuu would be far more cautious, but this time she wasn't in more of a battle hunger, she wanted to punish the Dark Mages that were here. Eventually, Miyuu decided to get to the rooftops, in theory she could see far better with a higher vantage point. Slowly she climbed her way like an assassin onto the rooftop of a home before moving on the roofs leaping from building to building. She enjoyed runs like this, where there is an element of danger to them. Miyuu stopped looking around seeing how far the next bunch of buildings were from her, she thought to herself before nodding.

Miyuu walked back to the other side of the roof she was on and got into a more sprinter-like stance, she was going to jump across using her magma plume to propel her upwards with her momentum, easy enough in her mind. Though it wasn't, she began running at a full sprint using the rather light frame she had and decided to take out her staff and used it like in a pole vault to launch her a little further. All seemed to be as Miyuu had planned in her mind, and soon the magma plume to launch her up again and jump from it, that was the wrong part of her plan, she didn't anticipate the force of the plume launching her high into the air, and way off target.

After a few minutes of flying it seemed, when it was more of thirty seconds, she realized she was now falling to the ground, and noticed where she was going, the massive funnel cloud extending far above her height in the sky. Miyuu's mind raced as she thought of multiple outcomes of the impact, Oh great... I'm going to die- she thought before hitting the side of the wall and after being carried a little, and even slowed by the wind, she finally landed on the ground rather gracefully.

Rather, about as gracefully as a drunken horse. Miyuu got a foot down and tried to stop, but ended up on her face behind Shinzaemon with her arms splayed out. Miyuu sat up, figuring that her foot was caught up by a stone from the street, or just the amount of momentum she had gotten from her fall, as she rose, she looked at the three others, One was Sera, the other was Shinzaemon, and the third was unknown to Miyuu, he was dark and looked like a huge threat. Though she looked to Shin and spoke in a hushed tone,

"Sorry to intrude Shinzaemon, but may I ask whom the dark man is?" she asked keeping her eyes on the man in case of an attack.

Shin couldn't suppress his surprise at the statement given by the other mage. After all, if the man wasn't lying then Shin would have to also take care to avoid casualties- something that effectively sealed off his stronger spells at this point. The shock was enough for the man's next move to actually pull him off his platform. Only decades of experience allowed Shin to quickly sculpt another spacial prison to act as his safety against a gust that would otherwise force him into the wall of wind.

He belatedly realized that his opponent had been speaking, however it was probably to taunt or gloat in response to his most recent technique. Shin again felt excitement, he'd never fought a wind user of this caliber before. He looked around, from what he could see the gust was a constant. I can cover this much with a strong stance... who'd think an old fart like me would have to go back to the fundamentals Shin couldn't help but grin at the irony as he took a wide and low stance before dispelling his spacial barrier. However the arrival of a young woman from his guild, Miyuu if he wasn't mistaken took his attention.

"No need to be formal, Shin is just fine...as for him. Let's just say he's a wind mage in need of some discipline."

Beyond that he couldn't exactly think of anything to tell Miyuu, Seto's story wasn't his to tell and he didn't exactly recall the young man offering his name.

"Also, while I lost track of her Sera should be around here somewhere. Hate to say it, but I was really relying on her so far. This guy is too fast for my old eyes to keep up with and her fighting style was perfect to keep him from using that speed. Also if his words are to be believed, the entire town is effectively hostage...effectively sealing away my stronger techniques." Shin's grip tightened on his staff at the admission.If he wanted to win this fight, he'd have to either sacrifice town's folk or hope someone else can turn the tables for him. That much was as obvious to him as the ground beneath his feet.

That's it! Shin got an idea on how he could turn the tables himself- however given the circumstance he'd much rather avoid the attempt. After all if the wind mage had back up, Shin wouldn't have anything left over for the fight afterwards.

"Miyuu, I don't suppose you've got an ace up your sleeve...or a way to let us move the battlefield do you?"

Their opponents taunts made the older woman grind her teeth in irritation. It was one thing to assume she was Aaron’s woman but to call her old was crossing the line. Stepping forwards Anaida cracked her knuckles prepared to take down the sneering boy in one go. Then Aaron retaliated with his own bout of taunts as well as ordering her to stand back. Surprised by his muttered tone Anaida remembered that she did ask that he prove himself to her. That he had indeed grown since he joined the Guild.

Swallowing her pride Anaida brought her hands up as if she were surrendering. “He’s all yours Aaron. Show me what you got boy.” motioning towards the dark mage. Watching as Aaron extended his staff a light appeared before them showering them in a black light and then forming a shield to fend off the dark mages attacks. From her point of view it looked like shadow magic but the way it moved was too airy to be like that inky substance that made up shadow magic. Then what is it-oh I see. Thinking of telling Aaron the mages magic he called out her name but she stayed still as her eyes caught something moving above them. Oh right I forgot Hannah was up there.

Stepping forwards nonetheless Anaida leaned in close to his ear. “I don’t think you need my help here Aaron. Remember you have support up in the air and besides it shouldn’t be too hard in getting rid of this waste of air.” It wasn’t much of a hint but Aaron was smart so he may be able to figure out what she had meant.



Cind continued to sneer at the pair not caring for the mages own taunts. “Of course I do you fool. I’ve never regretted a thing in my life so good luck in that endeavor.” The smoke mage hated his casual tone but if that’s how he wanted to play it then so be it, Cind would simply do better. After that unconvincing taunt Cind simply chose to ignore the other mages words and instead focused on the attack coming his way. Although his first attack was easily dispersed he didn’t care much for that as he still had so much to show them.

As the rays of light shot towards him, Cind’s hand twitched upwards and the smoke whipped upwards and solidified. It took the brunt of the attacks holding for quite a bit but it was obvious the shield he had erected around himself was severely damaged. “Is that the best you got-“ before he could even finish his words a crap load of arrows came falling from the sky. “What the hell!?” Cind barely had time to avoid the first one but the next one sliced into his arm. Looking upwards he could barely make out a form up in the sky. Grinning a bit as if he came across a wounded animal Cind tightened his fist. The smoke around him began to formulate into small balls before elongating into long spear like projectiles. Then with a sharp motion of his arm the projectiles flew into the air with incredible speed. There were twelve in total but the arrows would either destroy some of the arrows and if he was lucky enough at least one would get to the mage in the air.

It was thanks to his earlier defense that he remained relatively unscathed until the arrows started to come at him from different angles. Surprised by the direction they were coming from Cind growled as a few more bit into his skin and clothing. “Dammit!” Stepping from side to side he managed to avoid a few but there was one or two that were lucky enough to hit him. Moving his arms again he formed a dome around him but it wasn’t quite solid but not quite gas like. It moved directions and for the moment he could focus on the mage in front of him.

From what he could tell the old hag wasn’t going to do anything so provoking her wouldn’t get him anywhere. Now to figure out what makes this kid tick. Grinning from ear to ear Cind formed two fists, with the smoke forming into two large smoky orbs, before spreading them open and moving his arms forwards. In doing so the orbs shot off as small little needles that headed right for Aaron and Anaida. “You scared of the dark kid!?” As the needles got closer they began to expand and thicken, forming a sort of dome over Aaron. The needles from the second orb remained as needles forcing Anaid to dodge them. However considering it was a rather complex attack Cind had to forget about his defense against the arrows from above.

Gravity took its natural course as Elizabeth fell victim to the bluntly obvious trap of the classic hole in the floor, what surprised her was the man's magic with his ease of reading her next step. As the wind whistled past her ears making it would be clear that this hole would not the softest landing or when exactly it would reach the bottom. Nausea creeped up through her stomach as she pictured the various injuries that would come of it as her body naturally tensed in stress. Soon fear flooded her face as her mind quickly connected that this never ending darkness could become her grave, unmarked if Seto would fall in the fight. Her life seemed to flash before her eyes in slow motion as faces of Fairy Tail and her beloved Bato, despite his overprotective nature, the kindly elder did raise her. Shaking her head as if that was the cure from her fall, her crimson eyes widened as the possible evasion from the reaper came to mind. Taking a deep breath, she quickly pulled the book from her belt along with her quill. Adrenaline numbed the pain as the pointed edge slashed through her palm, which she dragged clumsily along the open book. Words slipped from her lips in the darkness " Protector, heed my words and come shield your damsel..I don't want to die". Her voice cracked as warm tears spilled down her cheeks as she felt the form of the Damsel attempt to emerge..with no affect. The pages of the book ripped from the binding encircling its summoner as the arms of a plated knight grasped its summoner to its cold chest.


The summon's appearance was just in time as a plume of dust scattered into the air as the duo slammed into the cold earth below. A hiss of pain came from Elizabeth's lip as her teeth bit down on her lips in an effort to prevent herself from screaming out loud. The knight below her was silent as grey eyes looked back into crimson orbs. In one movement, Elizabeth found herself effectively pinned beneath the metal man as gloved hands gently prodded about her body, her face heating slightly as his hands continued their inspection. Another hiss escaped her mouth as a gloved finger prodded at her ribs, confirming at least three of them were fractured at its worst broken. Despite not being able to the knight's mouth, it was obvious that his mouth would be set in a firm line of disappointment, Elizabeth merely smiled before muttering "Nice catch...". The knight nodded before easing himself to his feet, pulling his mistress to hers as well. The duo was silent as they both took in their 'almost' grave as darkness slowly edged into actual shapes as their eyes adjusted to the lack of the light. A plated gauntlet was raised in the southern direction of the room, as if that was the actual way out. Swearing under her breath, Elizabeth walked in the direction before tumbling over a large stone. ~Wonderful now my knees and ribs are going to need medical attention.~ Elizabeth thought irritably as she waved away the offered hand of the knight "If only I had some type of light to see where the hell I was going". Inspiration struck her like a slap to the face as she quietly thanked the Knight for the rescue, pressing her bloodied lips to his helm.

With that farewell, the knight vanished into shreds of paper once again with a bow towards his lady. Her poor book was looking terribly battered with dust and its paper savagely torn from the binding. Running a gentle hand along binding, as she took the pages from the book in a much slower manner with a practiced movement. Soon a circle of paper formed on the ground as she dripped a crimson droplet of blood on each in a deliberate manner as she took a deep breath reaching within herself to steady her magical flow. This was one of her most dangerous summons, one she only used in dire situations either in a battle against living opponents or the environment. Her voice seemed to echo throughout the cave "Brimstone and bone bring forth your guardian. Let the reins of hell be given to me for this time. Allow me to chain my soul to destruction, its leash my offering of magic.".

The temperature of the cavern seemed to heat up a few degrees with a lingering scent of smoke emerging. A singular pair of eyes blinked in the darkness, crimson as its summoner, as warm breath brushed against Elizabeth's face none too pleasant. Reaching under her robe for a strip of fabric to bandage her hand, the canine-like creature merely huffed in impatience as its sat on his hunches, rubbing at large ears of the hound she muttered "Good dog..now help me find a way out of this place." The hound blinked once before opening another set of his eyes as it padded towards the hopeful exit. Wordlessly Elizabeth followed the creature with hope in her heart, her wish was granted as she found the faithful beast seated at the top of a stone staircase waiting just next to the wooden door that would lead to her return to the main floor of the manor. Wrenching the door open with her bandaged hand, a faint smirk appeared on her face as she muttered to the summon "How would you like to find me another person. He can be your new chew toy...". A single wag of the beast's tail confirmed its agreement as Elizabeth started off in the direction hoping that it would lead her back to the mage who nearly killed her..his end would be much worse.

After splitting up from Elizabeth and Virgil, Seto found himself in a large, well furnished hall on the manor's ground floor. In the centre of the room stood a long, mahogany dining table, upon which was set a dark, jagged crystal. As soon as Seto had come within a few metres of the table the crystal begin to glow with an eerie, purple light, and appeared to be expanding. Seto's left hand instinctively went for the hilt of his sword, and it seemed he was right to do so. The crystal had now expanded into a quadrupedal shape the size of a small horse, complete with a long, jagged tail and a maw lined with rows of razor-sharp, crystalline teeth. The part of it that seemed to be its head had two small but bright lilac lights where it would have had eyes had it been an organic life form.

As soon as its "eyes" had caught sight of Seto, and lurched forwards and began hurtling down the table towards him, its claws splintering they table's surface as it went. However, Seto remained motionless with his left hand gripping the hilt of his katana as the monster charged towards him. Only once it had leapt off the table towards him did he move; in one clean motion he drew his blade, cast Corrosion over it and swung it through the beast, causing it to drop to the floor in two halves. Seto dispelled the darkness from his blade and returned it to its scabbard as he turned around to examine his handiwork. The lights had faded and there were cracks in both halves of the monster, so Seto safely assumed that it was no longer a threat. He wondered why Nightmare Hearts would bother setting up such a weak trap; he was almost beginning to hope that this Kisara would provide him with more of a challenge.

As if in direct answer to his thoughts, an explosion sounded merely rooms away. Knowing that it meant conflict, he immediately ceased his examination of the crystalline beast and sprinted towards the sound as fast as his legs would carry him.

Seto's curiosity had not been misplaced; the source of the sound seemed to be two dark mages stood by a smouldering hole in the floor. Whether or not his guild mates he been there he did not know, but he certainly hoped that they weren't at the bottom of the hole.
"Kisara, I presume?" Seto asked in order to make his presence known, "I was not aware that you would have assistance, but if he's at the same standard as the rest of your lackeys, this is going to be over very quickly."
As Seto spoke he cast Gauntlets over both arms, and then beckoned for one of the two dark mages to make a move.
"Let's get this over with, shall we?"

Damia glanced down at Roxie upon hearing her request. "Sure, but let's give them a chance to surrender first. Kay?" Truthfully he didn't want to dive into too much fighting right away, especially since he was still hungry and hadn't had lunch yet. Though, it didn't seem like they were surrendering any time soon, as the woman put a key into this Gustav guys back and then retreated to a bag. The whole sight made the boy sigh and lower his head. Mostly because he would have to do more physical work then he had already done. "Fine. Let's kick there butts then," he said. He watched as the man jumped about, ready to give them all a kick from the air. His attention was taken away in an instant by the yell of Aina's magic. He stared at her for a second, but slowly, his eyes widened. "What in the..." He watched as she soon turned into a giant skeleton in-golfed in the purple flames. "Wow. I knew that being hungry can cause you to see things, but this is something else." The boy knew that it wasn't actually an illusion that he was seeing, but, never laying eyes on the girls magic before, he would have no other choice but to believe that the cute and innocent girl he knew could change into something as beastly as what he was laying his eyes on. "Very well," he said taking a few steps back. "How about you?" His eyes went towards Roxie. "Do you have any crazy things you can do that I don't know of?" This was almost like tagging her in. If it could be avoided he'd rather not have her miss out on the fun. That and, if he didn't have to use his trump card then that would also be nice. Besides, he didn't even know if he had enough energy to do it.

Roxie snorted at their opponent’s comment, "Well you're not exactly young either you old hag!" Watching the old hag put a wind up piece in the back of one of her chair guys, all Roxie could do was wonder. With the purple circle of fire getting to the people could be dangerous. She didn't know what the fire could do to her. Seeing the chair guy run towards them with monster speed, before Roxie could even bring up her guitar like a bat to swing at the guy the strangest thing happened.

Her closest friend turned into a giant purple flamed skeleton. Roxie let out a yelp of surprise. She never knew Aina had this kind of magic and for the time being, until she got used to it, she'd be somewhat wary of it. The chair guy was thrown back at the old hag who was rummaging through her bag again. "Since when could you do that Aina? But more importantly can we step out of this fire circle. There's no use in just standing in here and waiting for them to come to us, it takes longer to get this over and done with." Lowering her guitar Roxie had to lean back a bit to look up at her friend, then turning to Dami to address his earlier question.

“I couldn’t possibly be able to do that you idiot! If I could do you really think I’d be standing behind this wall of fire?” Aina looked down at them and gave the two or rather Roxie the go ahead to step out of the circle. Grinning from ear to ear it wouldn’t be surprising if the remaining dark mages assumed Roxie was one of those kids who loved the sight of blood and guts.


Gustav was far too wound up to even be able to surrender. Winny’s magic wasn’t just a speed buff; it was a bona fide adrenaline rush. Gustav was in his zone and felt beyond confident, not feeling the slightest hint of intimidation from Aina’s skeletal form. He quickly jumped to his feet again and ran straight back into the fray. Like a whirlwind of of legs, Gustav bypassed the skeletal defence; rushing the mages down at a speed that made him look like a blur.

Bringing up her guitar as she left the circle of fire. Roxie swung at the nearest person with all her might. The mage managed to jump back but not far enough as he still got hit by her guitar. He got hit in the leg but it wasn’t enough to render him incapable of fighting but it did cause him to fall as he stepped back. Seeing him going down Roxie swung her guitar again but she had been so absorbed in this attack she barely had time to register the kicks to her person. Yelling out in surprise the first few kicks knocked the breath out of her. In the end Roxie managed to bend low bringing her arms up in defence as the last kick came in but by then most of the kicks came into contact and she fell backwards from the last one. Roxie knew she wasn’t the most resilient of fighters but she was glad nothing was seriously broken.

Standing back up Roxie used her guitar as a cane of sorts. Her body felt sore all over but the damage hadn’t settled in just yet. Opening her mouth Roxie winced in pain, bring one hand up to carefully wipe at her lips she pulled it away in pain to see a little bit of blood. “Ow! You friggin wind up dude you’re dead!” Shifting her grip on her guitar Roxie rushed at the guy who had kicked her and swung hard and fast. However considering him being wound up Roxie ended up just swinging into the air but she continued to swing her guitar, each time adjusting to maybe hit him. “Dammit will you stay still!?” Bringing it downwards Roxie’s guitar smashed into the ground but the guitar itself was unharmed. The same couldn’t be said about the ground itself as it cracked a the smallest little crater was left behind. Pulling it back out she continued to attack the guy but made sure to wary of any attacks he sent her way.

Damia watched as Roxie left the circle of fire and went on to lay down a beating to one of the men who was still standing in front of her. He looked over to the leader, determining that if he could somehow get her to call her men off then the fighting would stop. He also took into note that seeing how things were, he’d also have to get his seemingly battle hungry friends to calm down as well. Reaching for his pocket for the ruby crystal inside, he flinched, feeling a sudden heat coming from it. “Ow. What the,” he hissed. “Ruby, stop being difficult.”

“Sorry boss,” the red fire serpent said while it slithered out of his pocket and onto his shoulder. Curling itself around his neck, Ruby continued by saying, “Call me picky, but I don’t want there to be another flame around while I work my mojo. Besides, don’t you have other crystals to use. I remember us talking earlier about mastering them. Don’t tell me you were planning on relying on me all this time?”
“What? No, you can’t be serious. Now isn’t the time to be amateur. I have to use what I know. Stop playing arou---”

The boys words were cut off by the sudden attack of kicks from one of the women's henchmen. One of the kicks landed on his face making him turn his head the other direction before flying in the air in a spiral. Hitting the ground a few feet from where he was standing, the only sound he could hear besides ringing was the sound of Ruby laughing at him. “Hahaha. Well boss, what do you know? If only you reached for Emerald instead. Well, I’ma let you get at it. Let me know when this battle is over, ‘kay.” With its last words the serpent then retreated itself back to its crystal in the boys pocket.

Sucking on his teeth and spitting to make sure there was no blood in his mouth, Damia rose up, staggering a bit left and right, trying to get himself to stop seeing double. Once his vision was back to normal he looked around to make sure everyone else was okay. He quickly glanced over Aina, who was still looking kind of unapproachable and darted his eyes toward Roxie who was swinging her guitar in anger at the fast henchmen. Damia knew that there was no use trying to hit the guy with a direct attack seeing as he was moving too fast, but quickly thought that maybe instead of hitting him, they could get him to hit something else. It was a long shot, but Damia followed his red friends advice and pulled the sapphire crystal from his pocket, gripping it tightly in his hand as he punched the ground. With a slight whisper, he spoke the crystals name and water began oozing from his hand like an overcharged stream of sweat. He opened his hand this time to shove the crystal deep into the soaked soil. “Sapphire waters. Water geyser.”

With his words said, water began springing up out of different areas of the ground, creating small geysers all around him and his friends. These geysers were meant to do two things. One, if someone were to crash into them at a high speed, it would probably be the equivalent of running into a tree,and two, it would make it easier to tell his attack pattern, for brushing up against the water would show his position before he made it to them. This would ultimately give them a few more moments to react to his speed. There was only one flaw in this plan. If Damia was making the geysers he wouldn’t be able to be the one to subdue the guy once he was stopped by it. He had to rely on his two friends to be able to follow up with him, or risk wasting too much energy creating the small geysers.

Damia’s plan worked perfectly, as Gustav was unable to stand still or even take a second to act on anything other but instinct. Forced to dodge the water sprouting from the ground, Gustav’s only choice to approach was through a corridor through the water; and so he did; heading straight down the path set out for him by the summoning mage.

However, Gustav wouldn’t be the only worry the mages would have, as a rapidly growing shadow was cast over the battlefield. Should the mages look up past the geysers, they would see a giant cymbal-banging monkey grow ever larger, until it’s head was up and above the tops of the buildings outside of the park… It was Winny’s magic, who had used Gustav to buy her time. The giant monkey stepped forward slowly, shaking the ground as it did. The giant toy separated it’s cymbals; before instantly mashing them together creating a shock wave that attacked both the ears and sent brute force down on everyone in the park; even Gustav and his fellow cronies. Only Winny shielded herself by standing at the back of her creation. The shockwave would even affect the excess water of the geysers; showering it down in the area. While it wouldn’t do any damage, it would take out Aina’s purple flare magic on both her circle and flaming skeleton.

Just as she missed again a geyser of water shot out of the ground. Jumping back and nearly falling from surprise Roxie quickly got out of the way of another geyser. “What the hell?” Turning to figure out the source of all the water she saw Dami and realized it was him who had caused the geysers. And he asked me if I had some crazy magic. Frowning Roxie remember the wind up guy and went in search of him. Unfortunately with all the water it was hard to pinpoint anyone’s exact location. Then she saw a flash of movement and darted towards it. It seemed she was right as Gustov had to keep away from the water. It was also obvious who his target was, “Dami you’re a sitting duck!” Running quickly she intercepted Gustov and swung her guitar just as a shadow appeared over them.

Blue eyes widening in shock at the sight of a giant toy monkey holding cymbals, Roxie barely had time to prepare herself as the toy struck its cymbals together. Bringing her guitar down just in time she grabbed hold of Dami’s hand tugging him close to her behind her guitar. Although it wasn’t very large it was pretty hardtop break considering how she used it but it managed to take the brunt of the shockwave. Her ear drums were a completely different matter. A loud ringing resounded in her ears but in a way Roxie was used to it thanks to her own magic. Of course she had never taken the brunt of her own attacks she could handle it a little better than the rest of them.

Standing on shaky feet, Roxie let go of Dami’s hand and saw that Aina had been knocked out by the shock wave. The wall of flame she had created not too long ago was snuffed out meaning their only possible defense was gone. Grinding her teeth Roxie realized she’d have to use her requip. It took up a lot of energy but they had to get rid of that monkey before it smashed those cymbals together again. “Ah Dami I’m gonna try using my blue guitar so in case that doesn’t work make sure you get rid of that stupid monkey.” A grin found itself on her face at the idea of using it again even if she had no control on how much sound was produced. Playing a few strings on the purple guitar there was a flash of light as it changed to that of a blue one. Roxie released a sigh of relief, she hadn’t actually thought she’d be able to requip it but it worked.

Taking a step forwards Roxie took a deep breathe in and closed her eyes. Her hand poised to strike down on the cords of the guitar. “Dami you may want to cover your ears if it comes out how I want it too.” Blue eyes snapping open Roxie’s hand strung the cords and a massive wave of sound erupted from the blue guitar. The force of it nearly made Roxie fall but it hit whatever was in front of it with brute force almost equal to that produced by the monkey. The sound was deep, potentially bursting the eardrums for those who were too close to the small girl and it struck the monkey at its feet. Since it went outwards in a spiral some of it got to the monkeys main body but it was weaker as it went outwards.

Damia wasn’t expecting a massive attack such as an overgrown monkey symbol sound attack. He was only able to cover his ears briefly before the aftershock of the soundwave popped them. It hurt a lot, but since he had his hands covered just in time he wasn’t knocked out. Not only that, but he had to thank the small girl who was able to pull him away. Though his lips moved, no sound came out and once he saw the girl turn to him he couldn’t register a single bit of what she was saying. On reaction he had reached in his hand for the ruby crystal in his pocket, only to have his fingers burned once more. It was apparent that no matter how bad the fight was going to get he wouldn’t have any source of fire to rely on. He was honestly beginning to wonder how he was going to do anything against that large mass. He saw Roxie equip a different guitar in time to know when he had to cover his ears. Hoping that it would be enough to finish the large toy monkey off, he was of course disappointed that it was still standing.

Quickly, he reached for the emerald crystal in his pocket and ran to a place that he considered the middle of Roxie and Aina. “Emerald Shield!!!” he yelled, mainly on accident because of his deafened ears. Though, the same result came from the matter and out of the crystal poured a green light that created a slight dome around them for protection. He knew that it wouldn’t be enough to hold off a direct attack for long. If something big were to hit it one too many times he would not only be out of energy from having it forced open, but he may even lose consciousness, leaving the small girl to fight for herself.

“Hey you,” he once again yelled due to the dampness of his hearing, “How come you just attacked liked that, knowing your own men would be hit? What kind of thing is that for a mage to do?!” Along with the emerald barrier, his words might have bought him enough time with conversation, which in turn would buy Roxie enough time to attack again. Once that happened he could lower the barrier and think about what to do whether the attack landed or not.

“Oh them, they don’t mind!” Winny shouted back, a little louder than needed as Roxie’s attack had left a ringing in the woman’s ears as well. “They would gladly sacrifice their bodies for the woman they love… Past their rough exterior they can be quite the gentlemen.” She laughed haughtily, “But you understand that, don’t you? Fighting to protect your little girlfriend… It’s how all you men are like. Though… I have to pull your tastes into question, Fairy Tail mage, aren’t these girls too young for you to date?” Winny taunted, “Why don’t you come over here, and devote yourself to a woman who doesn’t wet herself instead?”

She knew that Gustav, between being juggled by sound waves and the strain her magic put on his body was down for the count now. Her monkey had taken a big hit, but it wasn’t down for the count yet… And it wasn’t like it was her only toy. From the bag she’d gotten the monkey from, Winny pulled a small but colorful box she put another her wind-up keys in and began spinning it; gradually making it grow in size as she did…

Huffing as if she had just ran a marathon, Roxie was disappointed that her attack didn’t take down the giant monkey. Unlike the others her ears were more or less unaffected by her own attack but they still rang, albeit not as loudly as before, from the monkey’s attack. Leaning forwards on her knees, she let the go of the guitar to place her hands on her thighs. Thankfully the guitar had a strap but the guitar itself was a bit heavier than her usual one. Then Dami ran out in front of her and where Aina lay unconscious. The words Emerald Shield poured out his mouth as a loud yell. The very phrase made the girl snicker, “That the best you got Dami.” She was thankful she didn’t have to yell out her attacks. It’d be rather pointless if you gave away your next move, besides with her fighting style she normally just swung her guitar.

Wiping away the little bits of sweat that had begun to form on her skin Roxie straightened up at the sight of a green light. “Oh so then it wasn’t just some lame attack phrase.” Looking around she wondered how long the shield would even last. It could very well come crashing down if the monkey decided to just step on them. Listening to Dami as he questioned the old hags morals it was pointless to even say anything. From the looks of things Roxie guessed Dami was trying to give her time for her next attack. Frowning Roxie yelled just loud enough for Dami to hear her clearly, “I’ll ty one more time but after that I’m done Dami.”

Regardless of whether or not he registered what she said Roxie took that same stance as before. Still breathing a bit heavily Roxie concentrated for the next attack. However it was ruined by the taunting words of the old hag. Clutching the neck of the guitar harder Roxie trembled in anger and it was obvious to anyone close by that the old hag’s words had hit a nerve. Bring her arm upwards Roxie slammed her fingers against the chords her own words intertwined with the harsh sound from her guitar. “I AM NOT HIS GIRLFRIEND YOU OLD HAG!” It seemed the power behind this one was less than the attack before but this time it was a lot more concentrated.

Like a beam of solid sound the attack went right through the monkey. Although its power was lessened slightly it continued on forwards and right for the old hag. As a result her requip returned to its original purple guitar. Breathing much harder than before Roxie stood on shaky legs and fell to her knees. Throwing the guitar so that it was now slung around her back Roxie put her hands out to keep from falling face first into the ground. Roxie managed to lift her head up high enough to see the result done by her attack. The monkey finally came crashing down but she wasn’t sure about the old hag. “Did I get her?” focusing her attention on Dami before her arms gave out and she fell to her side. “I’m not small either stupid old lady.” she mumbled quietly as her eyes closed from exhaustion.

Damia looked as the woman's lips moved, squinting more and more as they did. Not only was she far away, but with his current hearing, if it weren’t for her body language he wouldn’t have been able to make out what she was trying to relay to him. Though, looking at his friend and hearing her yell of anger, he decided to spare himself the confused reaction and smiled blushing slightly to himself. Like planned he lowered the shield and watched as the death monkey crumbled. Though by the looks of it, she had more than just a giant toy monkey in that bag of hers.

“Geez boss, if only you practiced with the other crystals more, or, dare I say went on the hunt for other ones you’d have a bigger pallet right now,” the crystal serpents taunts echoed through his mind.

“I get it Ruby. So do me a favor and shut your mouth. I’m thinking.”

Luckily he was finally done yelling, for from the outside one would think he was just talking to himself. Unluckily, Roxie seemed to be pooped out and Aina was still a no go to rely on.

“You of noble stature. Use my power.”

Damia reached in his pocket wondering if Ruby had changed its mind, but once his fingers was tazed with heat there was a slight hiss followed by him sucking his forefinger. “Ruby, if you’re going to tease me, I’d rather not have you do it now.”

“I haven’t said anything since you told me to be quiet. Anyway. Why not use this guy next to me? The one glowing out of your pocket.”

Glancing down, a blue light did happen to glow at the young mans pocket. Reaching his hand in and retracting it, he saw that it was the sapphire crystal, though he didn’t know exactly what to do with it. It had been his mom that gave Ruby a physical form and he himself knew nothing about hatching a sleeping crystal. Though at the current moment it seemed like the only thing he really had going for him.

“Use me to help the people you care about. Use me for a noble task and I shall be the winter that freezes your enemies.”

The words sounded all good and everything, but without knowing what steps to take next, the quite amateur crystal mage ignored his opponent for a split second, holding the blue crystal in his hand. The more he stared at it the colder it got.

As the beam of sound tore through the monkey's leg, fluffy filling squirted out like a fountain; making it almost look as if it snowed. The monkey was brought to it's knees; slowly tumbling over forward. It was easy to predict where it would land, but it would force the mages to move outside of their geysers defenses. The giant stuffed toy's descent was slowed by them, but they cut through it's body; spreading more wool all around and piercing holes in through the monkey.

Winny who had been sheltering behind it was hit with the leftovers of the wave of sound. Unable to prepare herself, she tumbled over and fell flat on her behind. "Ouch, why you little-" Winny wanted to yell, but she couldn't even hear her own voice. "My ears! What did you do to my ears!” Winny cried, as blood seeped from them. The concentrated sound attack had done some serious damage to the woman’s hearing. “You are dead, you little crybaby!"

Winny put a wind-up toy to her own arm, and literally wound herself up over Damia’s and Roxie’s attack. Like Gustav before her, Winny’s movements sped up dramatically! Veins showed from her arm and on her forehead, but she didn’t use her newfound speed for a direct attack like the ex-chair; she used it to amplify her own casting speed! The box, as well as several other toys shortly after, grew to massive sizes. A giant caterpillar, drumming bunny and the box stood before the Fairy Tail mages within mere moments… Although it was evident this spell took a large toll on Winny’s stamina; as her breath had sped up just as much as her movements and the little she was wearing quickly drenched in her transpiration.

“Die!” She shrieked at the top of her lungs, even if she didn’t hear any sound come out of her own mouth. Her toys didn’t need any encouragement, though, the caterpillar was a heavy tank on wheels that would simply try to charge into the fray; smashing through the monkey if it had to (but would be purposely avoiding the geysers). The drumming bunny; rather than making soundwave attacks like it’s simian brethren, beat it’s instrument to inspire the fallen dark mages to raise like zombies (they didn’t seem to have even a tenth of their previous speed and strength) whereas the box… Simply stood there being huge… But as the wind up key in it kept on spinning, soft musical notes came from it…

While screams of their enemy were nice to hear, having experienced the pain of a sound wave for himself, Damia couldn’t help but wonder what exactly he was going to do at this very moment. It would have just been easier if he could just use the magic that he was used to, but the whole thing with contract mages was that their magic could decide not to work for them at a moments notice, just as Ruby was currently deciding to do. Though, he did have an idea of what type of magic he could get his hands on. On the other hand, he still didn’t know how to make a pact with a crystal that wasn’t hatched yet and was left staring back and forth nervously between his hand and the next attack the enemy mage was concocting. Soon, his eyes became stuck on the drumming bunning and the seemingly possessed mages. Though they moved slow, it didn’t necessarily mean that they weren’t a threat.

“Hey boss, could you hurry up the whole pact making thing. I’d at least like to have one of my brothers risen with me before you die. Hehehe. I’m just kidding, though, if you don’t make the pact you may end up dead, so maybe it’s not a joke. Ah well.” The snakes hissing voice spoke to him, but gave him no hints on how to exactly make the pact he was so wanting him to do.

“You know if you told me how to make the pact it would be easier than just taunting me.” The boy’s words didn’t seem to need a response from his red friend, but did seem to peak the interest of the cold one in his hand.

“Promise me that my power will only be used for noble purposes and my power shall be yours,” the deep voice of the sapphire crystal called.

“Um. Sure yeah. I don’t think I’ll be needing to use magic for bad causes anyways. So yeah, I promise.”

“Then the contract is filled and by your will, I shall freeze all who oppose us.”

Damia didn’t know what that meant exactly, but he decided not to care about it, seeing as it was holding him back. “Sapphire,” he called out the spells indication. “Freeze.” Unlike the geysers, this power didn’t seem to come from him, but from the crystal itself, which had melted out of his hand in a current of water, only to form in it’s true self, the Sapphire wolf. In its glory it looked like a wolf covered in ice, but still retained the look of the crystal in which it was named after. The wolf pointed its nose towards the sky, howling at it as if it was trying to call forth something. Though the next thing that happened wasn’t expected by the boy as his body had suddenly went numb. It had appeared that the crystal beast had taken all of its masters magical power and then some, summoning a blizzard with formed from a white void and cast itself down on the area like an ice storm. Not only could the boy not move, but he also couldn’t stop the attack from affecting him or his friends. In a matter of seconds, his body was slowly covered by the thick snow until the wolf had decided to stop howling.

“Sapphire, stop. He’s not strong enough to survive if you go all out. You’ll use all his magic,” the Ruby serpent hissed at his crystal brethren. The snowstorm died down and the wolf stopped his howl, leaving the area in a winter wonderland of sorts. Damia, shivering at the cold, fell backwards losing consciousness, not by the snow, but by the drain the storm caused on his body.

“Hmm. My apologies, noble one. I didn’t take into fact how much power you had left. It’s a good thing I only called forth snow. Otherwise you and your kin would be frozen.” The wolf nuzzled the boys hand, slowly melting back to its original crystal form.

“I hope you didn’t kill the boss Sapphy. I’d hate to be stuck in a dead mans pocket.”

Luckily for the Ruby serpent, the crystal mage had only fell asleep due the loss of energy, though how long he would be in his rested state was for no one to really know.

Snow alone, however, wasn’t going to stop the caterpillar tank from moving, much less her other toys. Even if Winny was freezing in what she could barely call an outfit, a change of weather wasn’t going to knock her out. Although it did seem to make her… Chill.

She released the magic on all but the drumming bunny, causing the caterpillar and box to shrink back to her normal sizes so Winny could preserve her magic. The drumming bunny shrunk as well, but only to half Winny’s own length. It’s drums weren’t powerful enough to force the entirety of knocked out dark mages to march, but three of them dug out Aina, Roxie and Damia.

“I know someone far better to torture you.” Winny hissed, willing to give that task to Boreas or Cind as she, under the support of an animated, but unconscious Gustav, lead the march back to the manor, while Winny pulled her guild’s coat around her, getting away from the cold before she would be undercooled...

As she was walking around the corner something pulled her back and turned to glare at Oliver who only shrugged in a casual manner. The woman from before was soon standing where they had once stood. It was obvious she had come to help at the ruckus they had caused but that just made things that much easier. His magic certainly does come in handy. What may have been a grateful smile curled the ends of her lips.

Brushing white strands away from the left side of her face Kisara was surprised by the actions Oliver then took. The boy turned the corner and introduced himself as a disassembly mage and immediately Kisara understood his intentions. Leaning against the wall on the opposite side of the corner the woman listened in on Olivers web of lies and couldn’t help but snicker softly at his warning to the space above their heads. Hearing the ground get torn up again Kisara peeked around the corner to see the woman to be nowhere in sight and a smoking urn.

Stepping closer to the urn Kisara examined it before picking it up. “I believe so, well we could always recharge it but it’s rather impractical to carrying around an urn. Besides we still have the other artifacts to use, we’ll just have to bring the other mage to them if we can. “

Placing the urn back on the ground Kisara wondered just were exactly the shadow mage was. It was rather difficult to find people within the mansion but she knew its halls better than they would. Looking at her options the woman opted to go by random. "Kisara, I presume?" Her head snapped up in the direction the shadow mage stood. I should have known better. The damn explosion gave away our position. A sly smile slipped onto her face as she turned to face him. [color= #BF40FF] “And if I am?”[/color] Her voice was on the playful side, the woman was curious as to what he’d do. "I was not aware that you would have assistance, but if he's at the same standard as the rest of your lackeys, this is going to be over very quickly.” Looking over to where Oliver stood, she was curious as to what he’d think of the mages words.

“The rest of my lackeys? Oh so then you met the fodder then, must have been boring no? Don’t worry he isn’t like the rest of them, why else who he be with me.” Shifting her stance Kisara stood so that if she needed to she’d make a run for it. however that seemed unlikely when the mage beckoned then to make the first move. Frowning if just the slightest Kisara had never been one to make the first move under such conditions, she preferred to do so under the element of surprise. “Well there goes my running away. I wish this urn was still working I could have just sent you away like the rest of your friends.”

Glancing at Oliver she hoped the boy would remember what they had discussed before. Stepping forwards Kisara brought her fists up like a boxer would even her stance was the same. Looking around she then whistled a very high tune and it seemed like everything about her had begun to shake. Let’s just test him first. Stepping forwards quickly Kisara covered the distance between the two of them with an astounding speed. Her fist went for his face but it soon became apparent that it was feint when she brought her leg up to kick him in his side. The vibrations she assumed he no doubt noticed was centered on her leg, regardless of whether he blocked it or not he’d notice the effect of getting struck by it. Kisara wanted to know how strong he was but one kick won’t tell her what she needs to know. Once again that high pitched tune slipped through her lips as a wall of defense came up in case he decided to counter attack. It was a weak defense but she really just wanted to test him.

For some reason it was cold, very cold and so like any normal person Roxie shivered. The feeling didn't last long, she could feel herself being moved but she didn't understand why she was moving. Maybe I'm dead. I'm sorry mother for lying to you. Roxie's eyes fluttered open but she was still too tired to get her vision as well as her body to move or focus. Looking up she saw white and she knew someone was carrying her and for a moment she thought maybe Dami was. Thinking this a small smile formed on her lips but the one carrying her probably wouldn't notice it. Letting herself relax Roxie drifted back into unconsciousness.

---

Suddenly she dropped but it wasn't from very high. It was more like someone was putting her down but hadn't bothered to make sure some part of her body was on the ground. What she landed on was cold and hard. The young girls head swayed as she tried to wake up this time but she simply couldn't. There were voices and a lot of movement. Then something was being wrapped around her wrists. Roxie could feel warmth at her back and she knew despite her tired body that she was being tied up with someone. Thinking further on the subject she deducted that it was Dami with whom she was being tired up with.

A bit confused her eyes started to focus and she caught a glimpse of that old hag lady. Frowning Roxie realized they hadn't defeated her at least Dami didn't. It's my fault as well. I should have been helping him. I'm sorry Dami. Her moment of guilt soon passed as she sighed quietly to herself. Her body was still tired and in a way it hurt almost like how it would if she had just come back from running a marathon. With her vision back somewhat enough Roxie looked around trying to figure out where it was they were. From the looks of it they were inside a room that could have been a sitting room at one point but now it was ransacked, with a lot of the furniture being moved or flipped over. Suddenly shivering Roxie tried to wiggle her toes but couldn't.

Concentrating a bit more her tongue poked out from between her lips, "Come on you stupid toes move." After a good ten minutes passed they bunched together and Roxie almost yelled out in joy. Biting her lips to keep from yelling out Roxie worked on getting the rest of her body to move. Out of nowhere the room shook as if it an explosion had occurred nearby. With a new worry Roxie tried to get the rest of her body to move but that took a while. The room shook one more time and she could faintly hear music but from where she was the girl couldn't figure out why sort of notes were being played. Is there a fight going on somewhere? Biting her lip again Roxie managed to get her arms working but getting out of the ropes was pointless. Grumbling to herself Roxie moved around trying to see if there was something for her to use to cut the ropes however with Dami still out it was difficult.

"Hey Dami wake up! Dami will you wake up! We need to get out of here!" She kept her voice low but loud enough for her friend to hear her well enough if he was drifting in and out. Then there was a new sound of the doorknob jingling and suddenly it burst open and a figure rushed inside. The door was slammed shut but from their position they couldn't see the door. Hearing footsteps Roxie began to panic trying to make the both of them move away from the footsteps. Sadly it was too late when said footsteps turned into boots flashing out from beneath a long white skirt. Seeing the kind of person it was Roxie almost laughed at herself for panicking. It was a young woman, a maid guessing from her appearance, and in her hands were a bunch of keys on a ring. The woman seemed hesitant to approach them and so Roxie decided to play her ace. Allowing her tears of frustration well in her eyes Roxie began to cry, "Finally someone has come! I miss Mama! I wanna go home! Please let us go! Please I wanna go home!"

Her words seemed to go well with the maid as she bit her lip looking around at the empty room and rushed to them. "Tsk such barbarians to have tied up two children and leaving them all alone." The maid worked at the ropes but it took some time to get them undone. Finally after a struggled effort the ropes slacked and fell away completely. Jumping up Roxie hugged the maid thanking her. Letting go, Roxie turned her attention on Dami who was still out of it. "Dami wake up! Wake up!" Shaking his shoulders she then slapped his face lightly in hopes pain would do it. She could tell that he was beginning to wake up but they didn't have water to pour on him. If they did that would certainly have done the trick. Frowning in frustration a devious smile came about and she leaned forwards close to his face and whispered in his ear. "Anaida's gonna punish you for getting caught Dami so you better wake up." Leaning back Roxie wondered if his fear for Anaida’s punishments would make him snap out of it.

Regardless of whether that trick worked or not Roxie would find some way to wake him. When he did Roxie chastised him and asked him how they managed to get here. Of course Roxie made sure he knew that the maid mustn’t know they were mages least she think they were on their side. The maid was happy that the two were awake now and beckoned for them to follow her. “Come we must hurry before they come.”[/color] The maid went to the door and peeked through the opening to see if the coast was clear. Stepping back in the room she looked over to where the pair stood, [b] “We’ll have to move quickly and quietly think you can manage that?” Roxie merely nodded making sure to keep up the charade of them just being random kids.

They followed the maid out into the hall as she navigated them away from all this turmoil. It seemed for the most part they’d be able to leave the mansion without a worry but it was ruined when the mansion shook again and a dark mage came running through the halls. He spotted them yelling at them to stop. Of course they didn’t take heed of his words and ran in the opposite of the dark mage. Apparently the mage did something for they ran into another mage, this time the maid turned to them “I’ll lead them away while you two get out.” At first the small girl thought of helping the maid but a third mage showed up with the first one, both sending spells their way. Even though they had been up for a short while Roxie was still tired from the amount of magic she used earlier and she knew Dami must still be depleted as well, so helping the maid wouldn’t be an option either way. Cursing under her breathe Roxie ran away from the fight turning corners and running down halls making sure to check if Dami was still behind her.

The idea of just blindly turning corners in hopes of getting out proved fruitless when a dark mage came out of a hidden passage way and stopped them. “Hey how the hell did you kids get out?” This made Roxie pause even though she herself was young she wasn’t stupid. The very nature of his question meant there were other kids here. Glancing back at Dami she whispered to him, “Dami we have to go with him. Remember Anaida told us that the kids were going missing, maybe this is what she meant.” Turning her attention back to the dark mage he had already walked up to them and she noticed his hands glowed in some weird green light. “It doesn’t matter how you got out you’re coming with me.” Waving his hand forward a band of green light encircled both Dami and her. Motioning with his hand again the two were propelled forwards.

She didn’t struggle in the least but instead focused on where it was they were going, which turns they took and the like. Roxie noticed they were going downwards by the set of stairs they were now walking along. Eventually they stood in what she assumed was the cellar but there was a hole in the back, a very large hole. The dark mage led them to it and shivered, “Geez I hate this damn thing.” He was one of the few who Kisara had told about the tunnel thanks to his binding magic. Stepping into the tunnel the two soon stood within a very large cavern and there were a bunch of children huddled below them. The ground wasn’t far below them but it would hurt if they fell in and that’s exactly how they got to the where the children were. The mage pushed them over making Roxie yelp in surprise. The two landed rather hard since the children had scattered to form a circle around them. Rubbing her bum Roxie now hurt all over, looking around she could see that the ledge they were just standing on was beyond the reach of any of these kids.

The kids looked at them with suspicion, “You’re not from this town are you? I don’t recognize you.” Roxie swallowed a lump in her throat and decided to let Dami take the spotlight for the time being. Pushing him forwards Roxie continued to look around the cavern and walked the amount of space they had to walk. That’s when she came upon the crystal the thing was huge making her gasp. It was dark but it had an almost ethereal glow to it that made it apparent something was inside the crystal. “Look Dami have you seen a crystal this big? Could this be why Nightmare Hearts is here?”

Damia felt chills while he was sleeping. He wasn't expecting that unlocking a crystal would drain a person so. Either that or he wasn't strong enough. Either way, he was having the strangest dream. A dream that his father was still home as well as his mother and the three of them were celebrating his birthday. Judging by the number of candles on the cake, he had just turned four. It was a peculiar thing. Damia couldn't say he had remembered anything about his time as a child. Maybe he was just trying to forget.

"Hey Dami wake up! Dami will you wake up! We need to get out of here!"

Why would he want to get away from his own party?

"Dami wake up! Wake up!"

'What the?' The boy thought as he blew out the candles on the cake. How could he wake up when he was in the middle of his birthday party? Wasn't that a cruel thing to ask.

"Anaida's gonna punish you for getting caught Dami so you better wake up."

Immediately the young mans eyes opened, but the light made them squint. He couldn't see very well and the things he could see wouldn't stop moving around in circles. As soon as Roxie realized he was awake she started talking to him about things he couldn't make out. Her voice seemed too low to understand her words. Once he realized that she was asking him questions he just shrugged his shoulder, that being the only thing he could focus on doing at the time.

Groggy, Damia followed Roxie and a lady who seemed to come out of thin air. He wasn't able to pay attention much, but it seemed by how they were moving around they were moving at an urgent pace. Plus the screaming of a man near them didn't help either.

“Dami we have to go with him. Remember Anaida told us that the kids were going missing, maybe this is what she meant.”

That was right. They were on a mission at the moment. Damia's eyes crept open a little bit more to focus on his surroundings. Seemed they were captured or something of the sort. From how the man made them move, he was a mage just like them, but unlike them he was a dark mage. Being pushed into an area of captured children. Maybe he was baby sitter. Whatever he was, Damia was about to burn him with Ruby. That was, until he realized he might not have been strong enough yet to give Ruby enough power.

“You’re not from this town are you? I don’t recognize you.”

It seemed Roxie was nervous about something, judging by the way she pushed him out towards them. "Hey now," he said trying to gain his footing. "I never knew you were the shy type." Though it did kind of seem weird that he hadn't seen her around a lot of kids who weren't able to join the guild.

"Whatever," he sighed while scratching his head. "Well, we're just a couple of travelers. See my younger sister here plays music and I was taking her to a concert, then we got grabbed by those guys."

The lie was intentional. There was no need to tell anyone they were mages on a rescue mission. At least not yet anyway.

“Look Dami have you seen a crystal this big? Could this be why Nightmare Hearts is here?”

Damia looked at the astonishing black gem that lied in front of them, It was perfectly shiny without a hint of dirt on it. Truly magnificent. He couldn't help but wonder though, if it was indeed a magic crystal. Usually, the magical ones weren't as big as the one in front of them, though it did make sense he'd never seen something like it before. Heck, he didn't even know an onyx crystal could be used for magic.

"Wow.... I wish I could carry it in my pocket and find out what type of magic it grants. Too bad though. If the other mages want this it could be dangerous. You shouldn't get to close to it okay?" While talking he made sure to keep his voice down low so that only she could hear him.

Hannah

As Cind challenged Aaron, Hannah couldn't help but be excited. She wanted to see the mage's progress, hoping to see what he wanted to prove Anaida. Still she had her own problem to deal with; a barrage of spears was launched back at her; countering many of her arrows and some even were aimed for her. However, his aim was rather sloppy considering he couldn't take his eyes off Aaron for too long, and Hannah was easily nimble enough to dodge them from a distance...

When Cind formed a dome around him; the smoke burned through Hannah's projectiles before they could reach him. That was an issue, Hannah reckoned, but not the kind of adversity she could not handle. Summoning a spear in place of her bow and arrow; Hannah pumped into it the aura of her most defensive spirit; the pangolin. If he thought the best offence was a good defence, Hannah would contest his guard. With a second to aim and one powerful throw; she launched the heavily plated projectile; capable the burning fumes.

“All of them?” Oliver whistled at Seto’s claimed feat. “He must be pretty strong, Kisara. Not as strong as you, though.” He shrugged casually, taking a back seat.

“No, no, that’s too much credit Kisara.” Oliver waved his hand, dismissing her praise. He hadn’t lied as much as he had in the past few minutes in ages, Oliver thought to himself as he shrugged. He took a step back, folded his arms to support his neck and leaned against a nearby wall. “I’ll just watch, I’d only be in Kisara’s way when she wipes the floor with you.” Oliver said, but he’d do more than watching… He’d predict Seto’s moves and signal them through to Kisara in a whisper only she could hear...

Glancing at Oliver, Kisara hoped the boy would remember what they had discussed before. Stepping forwards Kisara brought her fists up like a boxer would even her stance was the same. Looking around she then whistled a very high tune and it seemed like everything about her had begun to shake. Let’s just test him first. Stepping forwards quickly Kisara covered the distance between the two of them with an astounding speed. Her fist went for his face but it soon became apparent that it was feint when she brought her leg up to kick him in his side. The vibrations she assumed he no doubt noticed was centered on her leg, regardless of whether he blocked it or not he’d notice the effect of getting struck by it. Kisara wanted to know how strong he was but one kick won’t tell her what she needs to know. Once again that high pitched tune slipped through her lips as a wall of defense came up in case he decided to counterattack. It was a weak defense but she really just wanted to test him.

From how quickly she got in Seto read Kisara was strong in close quarters. She was fast, but Seto himself was no slouch either, as he had already began to weave with his hands. “Shadow Make: Shockwave!”

A powerful spherical blast released from his palm, with the strength to blow everything far away, but Seto wasn’t done yet. “Shadow Make: Pillar!” He followed up; summoning a tall, thick shadow construct behind his opponent. His shockwave by itself might not do much damage, but if Seto managed to knock Kisara into the pillar, it sure would hurt.

It was only due to her sound barrier that she wasn't flung back much. Considering how weak she had made it Kisara was pushed back with some force but much of it was kept from her face as she brought her arms up. Coming to a stand still his next move was forming a pillar right behind her, although with her back to it she wasn't quite aware of it being there. Glancing over her shoulder Kisara saw the pillar and smirked turning her attention to the man in front of her. "So close." Straightening Kisara pulled her arms back as far as they'd go before slamming her palms together to form a loud shockwave of pure sound. The wave of sound had more force behind it than Seto's previous attack and would not be stopped by some form of defense. It would then vibrate and continue forwards until it was past an obstacle, of course dodging it was a whole other matter as the wave itself did not cover much width compared to its area.

Jumping forwards right behind the shockwave Kisara drop kicked Seto. Dodging it would result in another wave of sound but of a much smaller scale as the entirety of her leg was covered in sound waves.

“Shadow Make: Forge!” Seto chanted, creating rather than a solid defence a soft one. A black pillow appeared in front of him, but not just one… An entire wall of pillows divided the two combatants! It absorbed the soundwave, even if most were destroyed and severed into particles of black energy; in and of itself making a smokescreen for Kisara…

“Disappointing.” Seto murmured, clasping his hands together once more for what he considered the final blow. Using the smashed pillows and their darkness as a cover, he forged the particles into a giant wolf’s maw behind Kisara, which surely would intercept her dropkick if she kept going… Weren’t it for a little warning. Oliver, who had been watching the whole fight both in the present and future, had tipped Kisara few seconds before before Seto’s spell would even be cast.

“Shadow Make: Fenrir!”

In a sense having that screen was to her benefit however she herself could not see her opponent. It was thanks to Olivers words of warning that she knew of Seto's oncoming attack. However it was difficult to change her trajectory so quickly. The first thing Kisara tried to attempt was bring her arms back down to form a new sound wave that was just a single beam of concentrated sound. Letting her body continue its course she used a loose wave of sound to stop her movement although she came to a jittering stop.

Barely catching herself Kisara whistled a pitch that would make those with sensitive ears cry and if one was too close their ears bleed a little. Suddenly her body seemed to vibrate just the slightest and she slammed her palms into the ground bringing her legs up into a single handstand.The action cause the ground to tear up as it rippled and moved to let the sound go its course. The sound filled the room cracking the walls and going so far as to shake most of the mansion.

Letting her body roll forwards she used her momentum to push forwards. Bring her fist up in hopes it would connect with its intended target as he would no doubt be stumbling to get himself balanced. After that shrill whistle most if her movements were incredibly fast with a little bit more power behind them. If Seto managed to evade the punch he'd still have to deal with the small push behind it. Following up after that punch Kisara would take as many chances she can to attack Seto before her spell ran out along with most of her energy and hopefully his.

The trembling caught Seto off balance; causing his attack to disperse. Quickly Seto widened his stance to remain on two feet, bracing himself for an oncoming attack, but Kisara was too fast for him to properly bring his guard up. Gutted in the stomach, the Shadow Make mage was sent sliding through the room. That Kisara was more perceptive than he’d thought… And fast too! Despite the gut-wrenching blow he’d suffered, Seto was still in decent shape to counter;

”Shadow Make: Bind!”

Tendrils spiraled from the the floor in front of Seto. He’d been observant enough to notice Kisara had only gone for frontal attacks at melee range so far… And no matter how fast she was, if she’d fall into his trap now she would be immobilised… If only Oliver didn’t whisper of these plans to Kisara as well...

Even with the shadowy tendrils now in her way Kisara merely let sound erupt from her body as a sort of armour that pushed and cut the inky black away. A smile broke out onto her lips. It had been a while since she had this much fun. If it weren't for Oliver she would have had quite a bit of trouble dealing with the mage. Once she figured out what his magic was exactly she understood how it worked for the most part but the spells capable of being cast were unknown to her.

Dropping down low she twisted her body so that her legs were in the air and kicking out at anything close to them. They destroyed a few of the tendrils before she used her arms to push herself upwards and onto her feet. The dark mage was curious as to how Oliver was holding up and was a bit surprised the Shadow Mage hadn't figured it out yet. Her speed was obviously diminishing but that didn't mean wasn't a force to be reckoned with. Standing still for once as her previous spell died away Kisara breathed heavy for a moment before it calmed down enough to not be so noticeable.

"Have you had enough boy? I'm a bit surprised you've held up for so long. Many of my opponents would have been out by now." A cheeky grin danced on her face as she awaited his reaction. All she was doing was giving her time to rest even if it was only a little.

”Hmph, you’re better than you let on.” Seto gritted. The flurry of attacks was taking the toll on his body, and it took Seto more than a little effort to stand up. When he got on his feet once more, however, his eyes had darkened and given Kisara a death glare. She needed time to recover, and he needed time to think. Sure, his opponent was fast, but it was as if she was acting on instinct; knowing exactly how to counter his Shadow Make at a second’s notice. He needed to corner her, focus on forcing an opening… But that was no easy feet against an opponent with that much speed… Unless…

”Shadow Make: Gauntlet.” Seto chanted, as shadows black as pitch wrapped from his wrists to his knuckles. Adapting a boxing stance, Seto gestured Kisara to come at him…

“Oh, he’s a tricky one.” Oliver whispered through Kisara’s linked spell, quite amused by what he’d seen. ”It’s a trap, Kisara.” He warned, already seeing what would happen if Kisara would continue her straight-forward attacks. “Once he touches you, he’s going to hit you good. Be careful.”

[color=BF40FF] “Is that so?”[/color] she said with a smirk. Wiping away a bead of sweat as it rolled down her jawline. The Sound Mage was somewhat surprised that her opponent would want her to make the first move this far into the game but she would nonetheless. However even if she had the heads up she’d have to be careful with how she approached it. The woman was already reaching into her reserves thanks to her last spell and her magic wasn’t exactly meant for sneak attacks. Now how to deal with this fellow. An idea then came to mind but she’d have to time it perfectly in order for it to work correctly.

Taking her own stance it was similar to Seto’s but more relaxed. Looking at him closely she could see that his stance was slightly off but it wouldn’t give him too much trouble considering how well he’s been doing so far. His magic’s a tricky one and annoying. Rolling her shoulders Kisara took quick steps forwards jabbing at his face. It was a feint meant to lessen the amount of area he hit with his attack as well as to keep him from noticing the two magic seals. One was hovering close to her body ready to move to where he attacked, while the other seal was being formed underneath him. The first defensive seal was weak in order to concentrate power in the offensive seal, so Kisara was taking a risk with this. Before Seto would even realize, hopefully, a barrage of concentrated sound would erupt from the ground below him.

Blasted up in the air, Seto realised something… Kisara’s ability wasn’t to quickly adapt… It was to predict his moves. His train of thought came to a halt as he was smashed into the ceiling, as dust dwindled down upon the scene as a lazy summer rain.

”Clever-” Seto groaned, feeling his body ache all over, especially when he barely caught himself dropping down. If anything, the sweat on Kisara’s brow proved she had underestimated his resilience, but the dark mage was still in far better shape than him. He circled his opponents slightly, placing Kisara between Oliver and him.

Seto rapidly made a sign, ”Shadow Make: Dart!” He chanted, launching a seemingly straightforward attack to Kisara, who easily dodged it thanks to Oliver’s warning… But then the spell continued on it’s way towards Oliver… Who also dodged it, even though the attack should have come from a blind spot for the masked mage.

”-I was wondering why you didn’t go for a direct attack last time.” Seto frowned, though even the expression itself hurt. He had to think quickly, but now he had figured out their secret, Kisara and Oliver would likely give him no quarter… He had to think fast… But the dust from the ceiling still lingering gave Seto an idea… But it was risky and would demand all his remaining magic supplies…

”Darkness Embodied: Titan!”

Dark energy sprouted from Seto’s skin like ribbons; strapping around his body layer by layer. His right arm grew fastest, and with a massive force it would rampage through the room; destroying the ceiling and walls alike. Unchecked, Seto would cloud the entire room with dust and debris… But it wouldn’t end there. From the amassed dark energy, locusts would sprout and swarm the room…

Oliver knew what was coming, as well as that he would be unable to stop it by himself. “Kisara! Don’t let him finish his move!” Oliver yelled at the sound mage, for the first time in the fight worrying about what was coming...

The dark Mage did all she could to get out of the way of the falling ceiling, letting loose a volley of short blasts of sound to destroy any falling debris. Taking note of Oliver's instructions Kisara rushed towards Seto just as a decently large chunk of the ceiling fell in between them. Jumping back in time to avoid it a cloud of dust burst into the air clouding her vision.

Coughing briefly for once in the whole time they were fighting Kisara seemed to be under strain. Knowing she wouldn't reach him in time, Kisara formed a new seal and brought it to her lips and then blew on it. The seal began to grow in size until it formed a near complete barrier around herself. A brief look of relief flashed across her face but she realized Oliver was no longer near enough to be within the barrier. Frowning Kisara began to whistle in order to keep the barrier up while moving towards Oliver. She couldn't risk running least her breathe stutter and lose the barrier. It was obvious she wouldn't be able to keep it up for long, not because she was running out of energy but the sheer fact that if she stopped to breathe the barrier would fall.

Kisara knew the barrier was weak since she made it so it could last. The sound Mage only had enough energy to do one or two more spells regarding sound but even her body was beginning to become sluggish.

A swarm of shadow locusts danced alongside the dust; an ill omen if there was any. Many would land on Kisara’s barrier, slowly but surely eating their way through her magical shield. However, Oliver was not so lucky…

“Ouch, ouch, ouch!” The boy squealed, rubbing his eyes and jolting around. While nobody could see anything, Kisara as a sound mage would probably realise Seto’s strategy at this point.

With nothing to see, there would be no predicting any of the shadow mage’s attacks… Whereas Seto would use sound as a rough locator… Specifically Oliver’s cries.

The titan’s arm swept across the room in Oliver’s direction, using it’s girth as a substitute for accuracy. It hit Oliver with it’s wrist and slammed him into - No, through the wall! In one hit, Oliver had been taken out and the playing field had been levelled. However, Seto understood that this trick wouldn’t work on Kisara. Not on it’s own at least. The titan’s hand reached for the whistling sound, but dispersed into a dozen of tentacles; each and every single one, once having found their way to the barrier, wrapped around it. Seto patiently waited for Kisara to drop her barrier, at which exact moment, the tentacles would make a full-body wrapper, leaving the sound mage no way to escape.

Shit her brow furrowed as her mind worked hard in deciding her next move. If she understood correctly the shadow mage was waiting for her to lose focus and lower her guard, thus weakening her barrier even more. Kisara could already see that the locust were eating away at it and she wouldn't be able to continue for very much longer. Her lips set into a grim line Kisara let her barrier drop and in those few seconds used the remainder of her magic to hopefully push back the tentacles.

Slamming her hands together a burst of sound exploded from her fingertips either destroying or pushing back anything out of her arms reach. It honestly wasn't strong enough to seriously injure a person let alone destroy the amount of tentacles to get her out this predicament. Cursing under breathe Kisara knew it was pointless to struggle since she not only had no more magical energy to rely on but she was now constricted with little to no room to move.

Kisara’s spell only delayed the inevitable. The darkness embodied spells were the strongest in Seto’s arsenal and resilient as well. Tentacle by tentacle wrapped her form in cold darkness, blocking her sight, chilling her skin and constraining her every movement. It was not hard to see where this branch of Seto’s magic got it’s title from…

Except for that of his tentacles arm, the mass of shadow muscles dispersed from Seto’s body, leaving a heavily panting mess of a man, clearly paler than his usual self. Coldly he stared at the grip he had on Kisara, for a sliver of a second lost in thought. With his muscles resisting every move, Seto used his free hand to weave one final sign.

“Shadow Make: Bind.”

The tentacles emitted dark energy, dispersing into the atmosphere and the remainders shrunk to the tendrils Kisara had cut through so easily before. They mummified her, putting emphasis on binding the ankles, wrists and jaws tightly together. Although it was evident the spell was inferior to it’s predecessor, it would still easily serve it’s purpose of keeping Kisara in check in her weakened state.

Exhausted, Seto dropped to his knees, grabbing the case of his katana to keep himself from falling over. Now the scene had settled, he looked at the wreckage around him. The destruction was a sight to behold, the room not even remotely reminiscent of how it had looked when he first entered it and some of the blackest of his magic still wandering in the air… But past that he could see the bound Kisara and the unconscious, but breathing Oliver, and Seto couldn’t help but smile.

“Fairy Tail wizards do not take lives, isn’t that right, master?”

Boreas watched with anticipation as a figure came falling from the sky. However what occurred next was near impossible considering the intentions behind him forming the funnel of wind. Instead of tearing the girl to pieces it actually carried her to the ground. Furious Boreas snarled at the newcomer, “I’ll have you flayed alive for that little stunt.” In saying that he swept his hand to the side as if to slap something and a sickle of wind went straight for Miyuu. He continued swiping at the air three more times before pausing long enough to see how they fared. Having been fighting the old mage for some time now he understood that he probably moved out of the way but he could tell that his age was getting to him.

“You still in one piece down there?” Peering over at their last location.

To further conserve energy, Shin was forced to use his own spacial distortion as a blade to slice through the sickles of wind before they reached him. He couldn’t afford to be more liberal with his magical usage until he got some form of confirmation from his teammates. With no direct answer forthcoming, he began trying to inch his way towards the nearest building. If he could get nearby or indoors, he might be able to actually check on whether there were really still people in the town. His old warrior self just couldn’t believe it since the entire notion was so impractical for a battlefield. However as a member of Fairy Tail, Shin couldn’t just shrug off the notion and fight on anyways. From his artificial eye, he eventually noticed his opponent looking in his direction.

“Sorry but I’m still here, something of an annoying skill you develop when reaching my age.” It was a poor attempt at banter, but Shin REALLY didn’t want to be the center of attention at the moment.

Miyuu glanced at Boreas with a mild determination, she managed to get through the wind, just to have three Sickles going for her as if to slice her. Noticing where they were she prepared a dodge and a possible counter, though, she noticed Shin handled them, she looked at Shin with a nice smile, “Thanks. And no, I cannot move the battlefield… But I could dissipate the vortex... ” she replied, keeping her eyes on Boreas, she continued with a sigh, “I could level the town. But then Innocent people could die, and I’d rather not have more than my fair share of blood on my hands.”

The thought of Miyuu destroying another town was horrifying to her to say the least… Since the last time she destroyed a town, her brother took the heat and she hasn’t seen him ever since then. Her mind raced, especially with the thoughts of more dying to her magic, clenching her arm, she thought of the outcomes of her magic that turned bad. It was noticeable Miyuu was absorbed into her thoughts of the destruction she could cause, pressing her hand on her leg, she relived her own past, where she killed many in a rage of losing her family. Slowly Miyuu’s body tensed up in her past, with her eyes welling up in her own self-pity and sadness. Ready to break down, as the heat in her body slowly welled around her body.

Boreas huffed in irritation upon seeing Shin and the other girl still standing. "And here I thought I had finally gotten rid of you." Folding his arms over his chest Boreas stayed in the air waiting until all was clear for him to see them well enough to attack again. Laughing at the girls words Boreas spread his arms wide as an open invitation to attack. "I dare you to break this barrier girl just know it'll be costly."

If Miyuu was able to break it the barrier wouldn't just dissipate but rather explode as the ferocious winds escaped their confinement to that specific structure.

Shin couldn’t help but internally groan at Miyuu’s response, he’d have to do things the hard way after all. Fortunately, the distance between him and her allowed the old man hastily regroup. More of a cautionary measure than anything he dropped a hand on the girl’s head- he’d already coated it with magic just incase she was hot enough to burn.

[color= orange] “Then I’ll indulge an old habit of mine...cover your eyes for a bit, this won’t be pretty.”[/color] He turned towards Boreas, offering one last sentence before he made his move.

“ Were I sixty years younger, this could have been much more interesting. Shame that this is just about the best I can show you these days.” Shin explosively rose his magic levels with the sentence. The old mage thrust his staff into the sky before lowering the head towards the ground. Shin once more refrained from calling out the spell Sema, since the spell took a while he wished to keep the attack unnoticed. After all, the force of a meteor would be more than sufficient to level a town this sized on its own. However, he couldn’t be too sure due to his lack of knowledge on the wall of wind. However, the hope was the wall would be strong enough to protect most of the outside town but still give out. While Sema drained most of his energy, he had enough to do one more large spell. To protect Miyuu and himself from Sema, Shin managed to pull the energy together to cast Yagdo Rigora. The two spells would annihilate each other in the air- but the power produced would be greatly increased without reaching the ground. The trick was Yagoo Rigora was the faster spell, he couldn’t afford to cast it until after the sky fully blackened before opening again to reveal the meteor.

“Young man, I do believe you’ll enjoy the result if nothing else.”

Boreas laughed aloud at Shin's words, "I'm sure it would have been old man." Thinking up a new way to get under Shin's skin was difficult and he also wanted to attack one more time. However he wasn't able to complete it due to the sudden darkening of the sky and a meteor falling from the sky. Knowing it was headed straight for him, Boreas reinforced his wind barrier. Upon contact it seemed his barrier would hold giving Boreas a sense of triumph until it shattered under the pressure of such a large force.

Eyes widening in surprise the dark Mage was pushed back by the sheer force behind the meteor. Grinding his teeth Boreas tried to cushion his landing and hopefully add a resistance to the pressure but that too fell away and he finally succumbed to the attack.

“Yagdo Rigora” much to his embarrassment, Shin actually had to vocalize his spell. The figure emerged around himself and Miyuu before erupting upwards like a cannon of light. As planned, his two attacks annihilated each other. However the flash of light temporarily left Shin blind- and he’d used up his reserves of magical energy. All effort aside, the combination still left none of the structures that had been within Boreas’ wind wall standing.

Miyuu, although distraught by the idea of killing so many people, saw the opportunity to end the fight. It was right after the dark mage hit the ground that Miyuu rushed forwards to close the distance between them. A seal formed a suddenly a piece of molten rock erupted from te ground the size of a large ball and kicked it with all her might. The dark mage barely had time to put up a small defense to protect himself from the incoming projectile. However the molten rock burned the air and hit him, it was cooler than before, right in the abdomen, sending him flying back.

The molten rock burned right through his clothes and bite into his skin. Screaming in pain beyond measure, Boreas soon passed out from the excruciating pain and shock from the heat produced from the attack. He was barely able to move it off him without burning his hands too badly but from the looks of it, the mage was finally down for the count.

---

Cind watched with a sneer on his face at his work. He was a bit surprised by what happened next. The dome of smoke he had formed around the mage was suddenly flung back by black light; the same kind that the kid had used earlier. Bringing his hands up to retaliate, Cind didn’t have enough time as he was soon blinded by the blast of light. Squinting the dark mage quickly formed a shield around himself to block out the light. The shield wasn’t solid enough to be considered a wall but instead it retained its smoky look. He barely had enough time to register the oncoming attack from above when felt something breach his smoke shield.

Instinctively, and without using any hand motions the smoke erupted to coat the spear with a thick burning substance. It slowed down its path but it moved past the smoke nonetheless. Cind was able to step away from it thanks to his smoke but he want prepared for the blast of light. With his smoke shied more or less still intact it took some of the blow but the dark mage was unable to fortify his smoke.

Flung backwards Cind skidded across the ground, earning him a few cuts and burns. Laying on the ground for a brief moment in shock, rage quickly filled his being and he got up. Throwing his fist back, thick smoke swirled around his hand to form a large spear which was soon launched into the air and right for Hannah. The funny thing with this particular spear was that it was very thin but the moment it got close enough to Hannah it would expand into a spiked ball.

If a glare could kill it certainly would with Aaron in his sight. Walking towards him, Cind snarled, his hair was now dishelved. “You snot-nosed little bastard! I’ll wring your neck for that!” The dark mage brought his hands together as if he were about to wring Aaron’s neck. The smoke in response to Cinds actions formed a dense cloud around the light mages head. Like the rest of his previous attacks it had that burning acid like trait to it. It was meant to distract the kid long enough for Cind to get close enough and slip a pick of solid smoke between the mages ribs.


The Guild master watched with keen eyes as the fight ensued. It was when Aaron repelled the dark mages magic that she felt the sudden surge of magical energy. Looking in the direction of the source she realized that it was where Seto and his team had gone. It seemed Aaron and Hannah had things under control so without giving Aaron much of a heads up, Anaida ran off to the magical surge. The woman did of course wave to Hannah up in the sky seeing as the girl would no doubt see her.
It wasn’t that she was worried about Seto and his group but at that level, it might have been the Guild master of this Nightmare Hearts. She trusted her guild mates’ power but they weren’t ready to face someone like that, at least not yet. She was glad no one was on the streets otherwise she’d have trouble reaching her destination in a timely manner.

Anaida ran towards the gates, pausing long enough to check on the unconscious body on the ground. Breathing a sigh of relief it wasn’t any of her mages. Continuing on further to the mansion, there was a brief surge of power and part of the manor collapsed. “What!?” Walking quickly now Anaida stepped into the manor with caution. From what she could tell there weren’t actually any mages here aside from a few strong ones. Sadly she was unable to tell if they were her mages or the dark guilds. Ignoring the rest of them Anaida felt something else as well, a darker magic but it was very dull so she chose to ignore it.


Roxie nodded in understanding of what Dami advised her not to do. When the last rumble passed, even from here the small girl could feel the ground pulse with magic for a brief second. The ceiling of the cavern shuddered and bits of dirt and rock fell from up above. Frowning the girl knew they shouldn’t be here any longer. Turning to the kids Roxie paced her hands on her hips, trying to make herself as intimidating as possible. “You saw that right. If those mages continue fighting up there the caverns ceiling’s gonna break. We need to get put of here. Do you think the big kids can form a sort of stage for the smaller kids to go up and we small kids can pull you guys up?” Some of the children looked at her dumb foundely, surprised by her escape plan.

“Well it’s worth a shot.” said one of the older kids. That very same kid rounded up the rest of his age group and they formed a sort of stepping spot for the kids. Some even pushed the kids up to the ledge as none of them was tall enough to reach it on their own. Soon enough all of the little kids were at the top and the strongest teen helped pull the rest of them up. Now that they all stood out of their prison they smiled and Roxie then led them out of the cavern. “Come on I think it’s this way.” leading them past the opening that would take them back into the manor. The white haired girl was relieved that they hadn’t come across anyone so far.



Anaida continued to run down the halls but slowed when she reached an area bathed in light. The woman wasn’t able to see around the corner but she could tell a fight had transpired there. Edging closer to the large opening, Anaida heard the pitter patter of feet. Tensing for a brief moment, she stared in the direction the footfalls were coming from. The moment that shock of white hair and small form stepped around the corner Anaida released a sigh of relief.

Roxie grinned taking quick steps to reach her Guildmaster, however Anaida brought her arms up to stop the girl. She did indeed stop turning around to keep the children from going any further. It was then that Roxie’s band of children noticed the large opening in the wall. Bits of brick had scattered into the hallway and light streamed through. Looking over at Anaida wit a look of worry, the woman nodded to her and then stepped into the hole.

With fists raised in case someone decided to surprise her, the woman herself was a bit surprise to see that Seto stood in the barely recognizable room. The place was a complete mess, a woman lay bound on the floor and a younger man was knocked out on the floor. “What in the world? Roxie you can come out now with the children, it’s just Seto.” Motioning for the children to follow her lead, Roxie gingerly walked around the wreckage while the children peeked through the opening. Upon seeing them Kisara growled and squirmed a bit, “You released the children?” Letting her head fall back to the ground, the sound mage chuckled to herself. “I assume the others have been taken care of?” turning her attention to the woman with black hair. It was easy to tell that Anaida was the guildmaster, not only by her obvious age but with the way she carried herself.

“Yes for the most part. Are you disappointed?” Anaida crouched next the dark mage. “And I’m guessing you’re the Guild Master Kisara correct?” Nodding silently Kisara answered to the former, “Far from it actually. I was getting sick of their company.” A smirk settled on her lips, the way the dark mage was reacting to it all was rather odd. Anaida sighed, standing up she looked at Seto, “Keep her bound for now. She and her guild will need to answer to the Council when we get back.” Turning her attention back on Roxie, Anaida began to question the small girl. “I’ll be back Seto. I assume you can handle things for the time being. The other should be arriving shortly.”

As she passed Dami, Anaida tapped him on the shoulder for him to come with her. “Lead me to this crystal Dami.”

Led by Dami through the mansion, the two arrived before the entrance to the tunnel. Pausing at the entrance, Anaida ran her hand over the edges of the tunnel. The two entered the the tunnel but this time the guildmaster took the lead. It wasn't hard to know where to go, the older woman could feel the dark power from the crystal Dami informed of. After a while the tunnel opened up into an immense cavern. "It's over here." Following his directions, Anaida turned to the right and now stood on a wide ledge that went around the entire cavern from what she could tell.

She looked over her shoulder at the young Mage, "Stay there Dami. I don't want you to get hurt. " The crystal stood all alone, dark waves of power rolling off its obsidian surface. With a deepening frown, Anaida now stood in front of it. Anaida placed her palm on the smooth sides and took a deep breathe. The crystal was a part of the cavern ceiling, meaning once she destroyed it, the cavern would cave in. "Dami I need you to leave now. I can't guarantee that this place will stand on its own very soon." Checking to see if the crystal Mage did leave, she was relieved to see that his was nowhere to be seen.

Anaida looked up, sizing up the crystal and a small smile crept onto her lips. "Mm you'll be a fun one." Stepping away from the crystal, Anaida shook her hands then pulled back her fist. Suddenly rocking forwards, as her fist neared the crystal it took on a scaly appearance as it slammed into the sides of the crystal. A shock wave erupted upon contact shaking the surrounding area within the carvers. It only took a split second for a crack to form and then spread throughout the crystal. Quickly stepping back, Anaida could see that the crystal was crumbling in on itself as was the cavern.

The Guild Master spent no time getting out of the carven. As she entered the manor she checked to see if her guild mates were still inside. Walking out, Anaida saw that everyone had gathered in the front grounds. Seto still had Kisara, along with the other dark Mage that was with her, tied up by dark tendrils. She wasn't sure how many of the dark mages had been taken care of and how many were able to escape, however for now she was happy to see that everyone was there. Beckoning for everyone to gather around her, Anaida placed her hands on her hips with a look of triumph on her face.

"You've done well today. Today Fairy Tail has set free a town once held captive."

When Anaida waved and left the scene, Hannah instinctively felt something was wrong... And at the same time she felt bad for Aaron who had wanted to prove himself in front of her... Her priorities had changed as the guildmaster left, from playing support to see Aaron's progress to taking down this mage as soon as possible so she could focus on her task as scout. However, taking him down fast as possible would prove no easy feet... As Cind had proven himself to be quite adept at dodging.

Hannah noted the thin projectile being thrown at her. It seemed weaker and fewer than the previous barrage... But Hannah's instincts told her this wasn't simply Cind running out of magic... After all he seemed to have a lot of it left... Perhaps it was focused? She didn't waste much time thinking, requipping her bow in one hand and a net in the other. The net was imbued with the pangolin, transforming it into a large shield, and she then used four swallow-guided arrows to grab each corner of the makeshift defence and used it as an advancing guard.

However, as expected, it was a trick. The narrow spear exploded into a spiked ball; destroying her swallow-guided arrows and slowing the momentum of her shield. It's force was absorbed by the full body of the shield; and so Hannah readied her shoulder to slam into the back of her shield instead, and attempted bring the ball back to the ground. However, due to the nature of Cind's magic, the excessive force of her dive broke the ball up in smoke. Her guard and shield helped Hannah to get through the cloud mostly unharmed, but the sheer heat the cloud produced made Hannah realise how dangerous Cind's magic could be as she passed through it... And small sparks managed to lick her ankles, causing tiny burns...

Still, she had made it close enough. Closing her wings for a second, Hannah turned to use the nets as a platform, coated her leg in a familiar green aura and kicked the advancing guard down the ground. It was unlikely to hit target and with light weight of the nets it wouldn't do much damage even if it did, but it would go so fast it would be hard to tell any of that.

However her frog-powered kick had two purposes. The second had been to slow Hannah's own momentum. She flapped her powerful wings to disperse the smoke and blow it back at Cind as she landed behind Aaron. She put her hands on his shoulders and stated firmly, “We will finish this now, I have your back. You know what to do.”

Weren't it for Hannah's immediate intervention, getting caught off-guard might have ended up worse than it currently was. The cloud of smoke hadn't left the godslayer completely unscathed. While minor, Aaron had been made privy to a property he did not expect smoke the to have. Clutching his face after Hannah's timely rescue, the man slowly opened his eyes to witness their enemy still up and about. Aaron had to commend this Cind person for managing to stand up after taking so much brute force, he was a tough nut to crack after all.

He mustered the will to endure the stinging pain lingering around his face. His wounds, however little, could be tended to later. What was important now was that they ended a fight that, quite frankly, shouldn't have lasted this long. Despite that, Aaron wasn't too happy that he had to resort to his flashier techniques. “I hear you. Let's make this punk regret he ever met us.” With a weak smirk edged on his lips, the godslayer assumed a very specific position that he had grown accustomed to when making preparations to unleash, what he referred to as the true power of a God.

Regaining his focus, Aaron closed his eyes as his hands automatically took their position. He flipped his staff sideways before him as his free hand hovered above its centrepoint. Let's see the dark mage dodge this...

“Godslayer's secret art,”

As if on cue, a large quantity of magic power burst out from Aaron's body, enveloping the mage in a bright light before subsequently gathering at the palm of his hand and forming a football-sized orb that followed his hand as Aaron raised it into the air.

“Swallows!” Hannah stood by Aaron, infusing her aura’s into Aaron’s body. Godslayer magic gave form to the body of a true god, and the various animal spirits fused into the orb.

“Heavenly Starlight!” Aaron’s voice echoed and the orb was shot into the sky and instantaneously split into countless projectiles that homed in on Cind with unimaginable speed. Each one guided by a swallow, increasing the accuracy and power to astounding levels of each light bullet. However, that was not the extent of their attack just yet.

“Aaron!” She called out to the godslayer mage. “One more!”

Hannah and Aaron joined hands; pressing together yet another orb and a large, winged aura. With sheer physical strength, they compressed the two magicks. It took one form of swirling black magic, with an orange glow to it. Together, Aaron and Hannah chanted;

“Unison Raid: Ra’s Descent!”

The spell shot up into the sky, for a second seeming to vanish into the blue… But then a light broke through the air like the sun after a storm. A giant orb of blacklight gave it’s own form to the aura that surrounded it; creating a gigantic, luminescent eagle; tearing through the sky at massive speed; heading straight for Cind!

The net was easy enough to handle. Letting his smoke curve to form thin blades, they cut through the net with some ease. However as soon as that had been gotten rid of his own smoke was blown back towards him. Turning away from the burning substance, Cinds anger boiled to higher temperatures now that his own attack came back to bite him. The dark mage’s hands curled into fists while the smoke around him curled and then suddenly burst. “You damn bird woman!” he hissed scathingly. Cind quickly brought his arms up and spread his fingers. In response the smoke expanded then separated into various needles as it had done before. The smoky needles then shot towards Hannah and Aaron soon after they had finished their chant. The man had been so blinded by rage it didn’t register that their actions could be the end of him.

Realizing his mistake, dark eyes shot up towards the sky with its multiple new sources of light coming straight for him. In a fit of mixed panic and rage, Cind attempted to recall the needles of smoke but they were already set on their course. The only thing he could do now was create as much smokes as he could before those orbs of light, led by swallows, hit him. Breathing out quickly, a stream of the airy substance drifted around him. Moving his arms around so that the smoke would form a dome around him, it wasn’t thick but it was the best he could do. As he did this, Cind released a volley of his own attacks but it was few in number and was only able to cancel out some of the orbs of light.

In the end, Cind barely had time to protect himself when the orbs finally reached him. Most tore right through his shield but they dispersed some after breaking through. It weakened his shield considerably. Surprisingly enough Cind was still standing, although he looked ready to give up. With a pained smirk, Cind attempted to defend himself one last time with a sleazy barrier. Cind didn’t stand a chance against the eagle as it tore through his barrier with ease and struck him down.

As the fog of battle dissipated, so did Aaron's magic reserves plummet through the ground to an all new low. The attack had managed to syphon most of his power, the majority having been used to succeed at his spontaneous Unison Raid with Hannah. Was Cind done for? There was a brief mention of grim on the godslayer's face that the attack had not prevailed. “Are you okay?” He inquired of Hannah, glancing over the S ranked mage for a moment before turning focus on the ruined landscape in which, presumably, Cind was laid to temporary rest. Hannah nodded, although there was sweat on her brow and she breathed heavily. The spell had done a number on both of them.

Clutching onto his staff for support, Aaron sluggishly, and nervously, approached the scene to asses the damage.

There he was, wounded and unconscious, or perhaps dead? Aaron didn't bother to check that close, being knocked out was more than enough reason to move on from this fight. He nodded at Hannah, beckoning for her to come closer for a second opinion. “Let's meet up with the others. This one won't be bothering us anymore.” Aaron spoke almost commandingly to Hannah, already making motions to walk further into the city. The others should have dealt with the rest by now, shouldn't they?

“No, he will not.” Hannah agreed, looking down on their opponent, though she was disappointed they had rushed the fight to it’s end. Between her involvement and Anaida’s early leave, Aaron hadn’t been able to properly show off his progress… And Hannah wore her heart on her sleeve.

“Let’s go.” She said to Aaron, making large strides to catch up and pass him. After all, from her scouting activities earlier, she had an idea where the rest of the guild was going...

double posting galore