"This shouldn't be taking so damn long" a dark haired wizard hissed at her silver haired friend.

"Shush Naomi"

"But..."

"Shush!" Came the vicious reply, which succeeded in quieting Naomi, allowing both women to focus on the magic council members spoke amongst themselves in the corner.

A small growl escaped Naomi's throat. If this stupid meeting didn't mean so much to her childhood friend Ora, there was no way she would've put up with these old bastards. They had far too much power, and liked to lord it over people's heads. Even now, they had been whispering in hushed tones, and throwing the women occasional glances, for well past an hour over a very simple request. Glancing at her friend, Naomi couldn't help but frown ' poor Ora.' She thought ' she's jumped through so many hoops for these geezers, and sacrificed so much, all to join a simple magic guild.'

Ora pushed a lock of hair out of her face, completely ignoring her friend's concerned gaze. She was well aware that Naomi was only involved in this because of Naomi had made a promise long ago to her, yet Naomi still didn't care much about the outcome. But to Ora, there was nothing more important. For years she had been kept out of guilds, particularly the one she most wanted to join, because the council feared what her powers in the wrong hands could mean for Fiore. A clearing throat drew the girl's eyes as the council formed a circle around them.

"The magical council has come to a decision on the matter at hand. Ora, Naomi, are you prepared to receive judgment?"

"Yes, sir" came the duel reply

"Very well. Ora Allsaven and Naomi Elema, in light of the recent changes to Ora's that allow her to control it better, and both of your results at the trail fights, we have decided to accept your request to be allowed to join a magic guild."

Outwardly, Ora remained unwavering, but on the inside she felt her heart skip a beat. Her only dream, all that she had worked so hard to achieve, had just become true. Her sacrifice was not in vain. She looked at Naomi, who gave her an encouraging smile, showing her support. Ora took a deep calming breathe before addressing the council with her head held high.

"Thank you, everyone, for your generous allowance. Our gratitude reaches the stars, and we are both unable to truly express our happiness." She said dropping into a deep bow, which Naomi followed to do. Naomi gave a small smirk, which went unnoticed ' hell of a speech princess. Guess that's what you get when you're royalty.'

"Take this." One of the council members said as a scroll appeared in Ora's outstretched hand "This scroll is our official ruling, and will allow a guild master to officially mark you both. It allows them to know we sanctioned this." With another bow, both beautiful wizards turned to leave, only to be halted by the council's parting words.

"I hope that both of you will truly think about the path you are determined to follow. Since you came to Fiore, you have been allowed total control over your lives with no interference from the guilds, or those of us on the magical council. Should you go through with this, and actually join a guild, that will no longer be the case. It will become our duty to monitor and ensure that you do not receive special treatment. You will answer to your guild master, and I would hate for you to join, only to find that it is not the life you thought it was. I hope you have given this decision a lot of thought."

Naomi paused, casting her gaze on her friend who had gone completely still, her back to the council. While joining a guild had never been high on her priorities, she knew how desperately her friend yearned for the guild life. But that was pretty typical of the two friends. Naomi was the loner, happy to wander alone with just her thoughts, having been raised alone, while Ora had been locked away from the world now sought to be with others. Ora refused to let the council see the tears that threatened to fall from her eyes. How many times had she been told she didn't know what she was doing? She could hear the voices ringing in her head as loud as shouts.

'A guild is not the place for you princess Ora...'

'If someone were to find out all you could do...'

'You're not meant to be around those people Ora... You're just too different...'

'There is no guild that will fix you Ora!'

Without turning or responding to the council man's words, Ora began to stiffly walk out of the room, a silent Naomi on her heels. Though the council likely didn't hear the petite woman's response, Naomi's keen sense of hearing heard the girl's dark words. "If they really think that I haven't spent my whole life thinking about this day? My freedom from my curse came at a bigger cost than any of those old fools will EVER understand. I will not be deterred from my course. Are you with me Naomi?"

"Without a doubt Ora"

And then...

The walk from the council building was a short one, in which the two spent in comfortable silence. Once out of the building, Ora was able to regain her calm and her spirits had quickly lifted, which allowed Naomi to relax as well. With their meager belongings in tow, both girls boarded a train and found an empty compartment. Once they were settled, the felt the train begin to move, Naomi glanced at her companion curiously.

"I don't believe I've ever seen you walk out on the council before." She said, a small smirk on her face.

Ora returned the smirk with a mischievous smile of her own "well they had no right to speak to me like that."

Naomi leaned her head on her hand and continued to study her friend "I noticed you made no mention of exactly which guild you intend to join."

"So it slipped my mind" at her friend's unconvinced look, Ora's grin grew wider "Ok, so I did it on purpose. But I knew they would never approve our request if they knew we were going to join the infamous Fairy Tail!"

The friends shared mischievous grins, Ora because of her excitement and Naomi because Ora's happiness was always infectious. 'I hope you're ready for us' Naomi thought as she turned to stare out the window at the passing towns ' cause ready or not, here we come!'