Holy Grail

Chapter 1

Within the kingdom of Fiore, to the north of Crocus, lay a small town by the name of Sylvein. With a modest population of five thousand people, it specializes in the mining and selling of rare minerals, such as topaz and amethyst. It is also the chief producer of common day lacrima, such as warmth and vision. However, it is quite a desolate place to live, for it is situated on the base of Mt. Korai, a magic rich volcano. It is from the excrement of the mountain that they make their famous lacrima, as well as the mining place for their treasured jewels. For a very long time, the citizens of Sylvein would have to leave on the seventh of July, when the lava would come pouring down the rocky mountainside, lest they be burned by the magmatic sludge.

That changed, however, fifteen years ago, when a Wizards guild by the name of Holy Grail made their Grand Hall in Sylvein. They had been warned against it, for the lava was much more treacherous to a guild hall, for they are expensive to remake. But the leader, a young women with pretty purple eyes just laughed, saying "Money isn't a problem." That year forward, they never had to leave their town again.

Said guild was built on the side of the mountain. To get to it from town requires a ten minute hike up the hillside, until you find a large treacherous outcrop, that gives you an amazing view of the town and beyond. From it you can see the mountain range to the east, the grand lakes to the west, and straight forward, you can see the grand desert, and in the very distant lands, a small bit of Crocus itself in the south.

Once upon this outcrop, you will see a small Iron doorway, which has the Holy Grail Mark upon its chest. Hanging over this doorway was an old and withered birch tree, whose bark was still pure and white despite its age. The symbol upon the door is that of a golden cup, a small amount of red liquid sloshing out of the right corner, held by two armored hands as if being lifted up above all men. The handles to this doorway are that of a sword, and to enter you must prick yourself with the blades.

Once that had been done the door will open to a small tunnel, until you come to the hall itself, a grand, Medieval/Tavern styled hall meant for much drinking and dancing and merriment. To the left is a long, iron table that spanned the entire distance from front to back, meant for large Guild entirety meals. To the right, there is a small bar with many smaller tables for different groups and teams to drink together between jobs and such.

In between these two sections is a long hallway with a ruby red carpet that leads down to a rather large board, filled with requests from people all over Fiore, who required assistance of the mystical variety. On either side of this board, the carpet continues over two spiral staircases, which lead up to the floor of accommodation and entertainment. To the left are the male lofts, and to the right the female, both ending at a small gender specific public bathing hall. If you were to go deeper into the mountain, you would find a rather large Arena-Esq. training facility, which is quite popular among the mages of Holy Grail. In fact, it is there that we meet two teenage wizards, who were currently having a rather heated brawl.

Danika

I jumped to avoid the large plume of smoke headed at me, spinning as I brought my hands together, focusing my strength into my magic. I landed on the ground with nothing but a soft plume of ash billowing around my feet indicating my fast decent. I turned to face Cy, smirking when I saw the look of aggravation taking over his bright lilac eyes.

"Electron Overload!"

I thrust my hands outwards, a hundred volts of electricity racing through the air, basking the marble arena in an electrifying yellow tint. The attack hit him straight on, but my eyes raised in shock when he turned into mist.

"Smokescreen!"

I jerked in surprise as I was enveloped in a thick cloud of putrid smelling smoke. As the fumes hit my nostrils I began to wheeze, and I barely managed to choke out my next incantation.

"Electron Discharge!"

Every electron upon my person and in the air flared in an instant of energy, dissipating the smoke that engulfed me. I began to move until I felt the cold tip of a blade against the nape of my neck. Even though I couldn't see it, in my mind's eye I could envision the sight of Cy panting, his brown hair matted and singed, perspiration covering his chocolate skin.

I then felt his smirk on my skin. "This," He began in his raspy voice. "Is the point when you say 'you win.'" I sighed, a scowl creeping upon my face as I internally berated myself for letting my guard down during his screen. I tried to think of a way to come out on top, but other than jolting his blade and hoping his grip doesn't neutralize the shock, I was fresh out of ideas.

"Fine," I growled out, "You win." I instantly felt the blade leave my neck, and out of irritation started rubbing the spot where it had touched. He began spinning the small blade, a dirk made of a rare material known as Darksteel, before throwing it in the air and pocketing it in his re-quip space. I suddenly heard clapping from up in the seating area, and turned to see Ni, the third member of our team, standing there with her face lit up in an angelic smile.

Ni, or Nissa Vando, was a close friend of mine, being the same age as myself at 19. We got along quickly when we first met each other at the guild, and we have been friends ever since. Nissa is 5'9, with an average bust, Olive skin and long slender legs. She has stormy grey eyes, and magenta hair that falls over her shoulders in waves. Unlike her other two team mates, her guild mark was visible at all times. She had her mark on the left side of her neck, in a deep blue. She was wearing her signature outfit, consisting of black Hunter boots, navy blue jeans, red rain jacket, and white parasol. This all came together to stay in theme with her magic, storm magic. It gave her the ability to call upon any storm you can think of, from a small flurry, to a freezing blizzard. The only problem is that when her emotions get the better of her, things get... well... rough. We were on a cargo liner once, tasked with protecting the rare artifacts on board, when she caused a tsunami to hit the nearby shores because Cy was making fun of her attire.

Speaking of Cy, I looked slightly behind me to see him smiling victoriously. His real name is Cynex, but he's told everyone to call him Cy. He's 6'6, and he packs a serious punch. He looks a bit like that Elfman fellow from fairytail, at least from the sorcerer weekly photo I saw. They both have that serious face, and muscles to boot. But Cynex goes for the less traditional style outfits. Right now, for example, he is wearing a grey turtleneck with white pants that had a silver chain hanging from the right pocket. Upon his feet he wears a pair of black suede shoes, and atop his head a brown band. His charcoal hair puffed out the top, leaving his cocoa face bare. His face was clear of blemishes, except for a small scar that zigzagged up his chin. His magic was smoke manipulation magic, allowing him to summon and contort smoke.

The last member of our team would be myself, Danika Roberro. I'm nothing special, 5 ft 8, small bust, short legs, awkwardly large torso, and averagely tan skin. I have blue eyes and auburn hair, and a splash of freckles that bedazzle my face. My usual outfit is inspired by Lucy Heartfilia of Fairytail. People always bash me about it, but, like, she's so cool! She has the best Celestial spirits out there, and she's so pretty! Plus, there are rumors going around that she has a thing with Natsu freaking Dragneel! Anyway, I'm wearing a white vest that has blue markings, a blue skirt, and black boots. The only thing I didn't add was Lucy's hair accessories, for I like to put my hair up into pigtails.

My outfit doesn't match my magic, but then again, I don't really like wearing yellow. My magic is, quite simply, electron magic. I am able to summon forth electrons from within my body, as well as control the ones around me in the air. My master, Juilliard, was even able to use the "inner lightning" (as he likes to call it) in other people to control them! But I'm not nearly there yet.

The three of us make up the team "Harmony," and together we have gotten into quite the series of shenanigans. Our name was made by a guild mate and close friend of Cy's, Willow, for she pointed out how well we work together. And I gotta say, I'm starting to get attached to the name.

"I see you two had some fun while I was gone," Nissa said, her childish voice ringing as she eyed the condition we were both in. We were both panting and sweating, and both of us were covered in ash and soot from a combination of smoke and spark.

"Well if you didn't go on a mission without us," Cy began, and I sighed knowing he was going to badger her about this for a while. But before he could continue, He noticed that Ni's eyes were glimmering, and I saw that a small cloud had formed over the whole arena.

"Shit!" I muttered, as I ran to get under one of the arches at the base of the arena. Cy jumped up to the public seating using his smoke, and started running towards Nissa to apologize, but he got there a few seconds too late. A large downpour erupted throughout the entire arena as Ni started bawling her eyes out, shouting strange apologies and pleads of forgiveness.

I guess I forgot to say she's really a drama queen as well. Doubled with the fact that her mood swings are incredible, and she's just a sensitive person to begin with, when she's sad, it's an all out mess. Cy was trying his best to calm her down, but even I have difficulty making her stop, so he was just wasting his time.

"Nissa please don't cry! I didn't mean it! I swear!" I heard him pleading with her, but that just made it worse.

"I MADE YOU HURT EACHOTHER! PLEASE DON'T HATE ME!" She screeched, bowing and crying and apologizing at the same time. I muttered a thing or two about getting Ni counseling before I jumped out of my cover into the freezing cold rain. Within seconds I was chilled to the bone, but I just gritted my teeth and used the electrons in the air to propel me over the arena's ledge and up the stairs towards my teammates.

I pushed Cy out of the way, and was about to start to try and calm her down, when suddenly the rain just stopped mid air. Nissa's face suddenly froze, and a look of perplextion spread across her face. I was confused until I saw that the arena doors were wide open, and three guild mates were standing at its entrance. "God dammit, not them," I said under my breath.

Before us stood the team known as Ghoul Hunter, and within its ranks stood one of Holy Grail's five S-Class wizards. From left to right, there was Maxis Roc, Stark Vando who was Ni's brother, and Silica Hustoff.

Maxis is 6'3 with a tan and lean, muscled build. He has Ivory hair that jumps out from his scalp, and his eyes were narrow and green. He adorns a dark black leather jacket and ripped jeans, with oak wood sandals on his feet. He specializes in a summoning magic known as Spectrol, and it allowes him to call upon different mages and heroes from ages past. His guild mark is midnight black, and it is on his right cheek.

Stark is 6'4, olive skinned like his sister, and although Cy won't admit it, more intimidating than himself. Although Stark is shorter, he managed to lift a Blizzardvern above his head, and then throw it over a cliff into an abyss before proceeding to aid in the defeat of an entire dark guild. He has his siblings magenta hair, but his eyes were hazel. He is wearing a spring themed plaid shirt with the sleeves rolled up over a sky blue tank top. He also has blue jeans with the bottom cuffs rolled up and black flip flops. At the moment, he had his hand extended out, a magic circle present atop his fingers. His magic is moisture magic, which allows him to summon and control all kinds of liquids. He is one of the few people who can nullify Nissa's storms.

And finally, the S-Class mage Silica Hustoff. She is 6'1, and has got to be by far the most terrifying woman I have ever met. She has messy blonde hair that spikes up at the top, and deep red eyes that always seem to be narrowed in either anger or a sneer. She wears a large fur coat over her shoulders, its sleeves dangling by her side. Underneath she had a black suit of armor that has the Holy Grail mark etched into the chest. She was also dressed in a long black skirt, and thigh high black socks. Her steel toed black boots hugged her feet, and I know from first hand experience that she can make a blade pop out the front of them. Silica's magic is called Adamantine, and it allows her to make anything her skin comes to contact with indestructible. It also allows her to give any weapon she touches magical properties, such as fire and poison. But its strongest property is that it allowed herself to make her skin near impenetrable. She can also, if hand -to-hand combat was necessary, augment herself. This means she can make her attacks lighting fast, or smooth and agile as the wind.

Ni's face suddenly grew into a giant smile, and the clouds and the rain vanished without a trace. She suddenly flung herself at her brother. Not expecting this, he was tackled to the ground as they both slammed into the door.

"BRO BRO!" Nissa began squeezing the life out of her poor brother. His face was soon turning purple from lack of oxygen, and Maxis and Cy sweat dropped from the brother and sister antics. Stark finally managed to rasp out;

"Moisture Take-Over!"

He suddenly disappeared, causing Nissa to fall onto the marble floor. He then reappeared a couple meters away, panting worse than both myself and Cy.

"Damn Ni-Ni," Stark started rubbing his bright red neck. "Since when could you hug like that?" Nissa simply smirked, flexing her surprisingly large biceps for a girl so slender.

"Wittle bitty Ni-Ni has been training big brother." She then struck a glorious pose, causing both teams to sweat drop, Silica even looking a tad bemused. The S-Class wizard quickly shook her head, before sending a glare in my direction. It took everything I had to silence my squeak of terror.

Upon noticing my distress, a sly smile grew across her face, revealing her pearly whites. "Master Brauheist requires your presence in her office," She stated, her large and authoritative voice echoing slightly of the white walls. "And with the mood she's in, I don't suggest you keep her waiting." With her job complete, she headed for the door, Maxis quickly following. The summoner looked towards his last teammate, but Stark just shook his head.

"I'll catch up with you later." Maxis opened his mouth, but closed it after seeing that his friend had already left to talk with his sister. With a small growl the Ivory haired mage followed Silica, his mouth wording a curse towards the four of us.

Cy looked at the door for a while, before bluntly stating; "Who shoved a stick up his ass?" Stark chuckled lightly, but I just frowned. Even though I don't like Maxis and Silica that much, I didn't think it was proper to talk about them behind their backs.

"Be quiet Cy, Maxis is mad because he probably thinks we're stealing his teammate." The smoke mage just looked at me with a look of disdain, quickly wiping it off however when I sent a glare at him. They tried to hide it, but it was obvious that the smoke and Spectrol wizards had a bitter rivalry, and I'm positive I'm not the only one who has noticed.

Stark seemed to notice the tension between Cy and myself, so he just let out a small laugh before walking towards us. He turned to look at the door from which his team just exited, before once again chuckling."Don't mind meester angst over there, he's just bitter that I took out three golems on our last job, while he only got one."

Cy smiled at this while I just pursed my lips, my eyes going wide as I realized something. "SHIT! I need to go see the Sallandria!" I rushed down the seating steps before proceeding to gracefully hop off the side and back down into the arena. I then sprinted towards the locker room under the arch, taking a five-second shower to wash off some of the grime. I raced through the change room to the exit, proceeding to slow down to a speed walk as I walked over the ruby carpet of the hall. It was unusually quiet in the corridors, and it seemed to take forever to find the steps down past the request board and then further down into the mountain.

In my rush I didn't realize I took a wrong turn, and I accidently found myself in the dungeons. 'Goddammit, which way do I go from here?' I was about to backtrack, when I bumped into someone behind me. I stumbled, almost falling when a pair of lean arms wrapped around my torso, suspending me only a few feet off the ground. I looked up to see a face that brought a smile to my lips.

"You really should be more careful Dani, the dungeons aren't a place for someone like you." I just smirked as he hefted me back onto my feet, giving me the freedom to brush some dust off my shoulder.

"And are they a place for someone like you, Duncan?" I said, a devilish smile gracing my features. Before me stood Duncan Harrison, One of the nicest guys I have ever met. He was the one who brought me to this guild, and also holds the title of S-Class mage. He also was briefly a teammate of mine, but he thought it would be better for me to make a team with people my skill level. Duncan is 6'3, with hazel brown hair that flourishes to one side, as well as dazzlingly ice-blue eyes. His skin is sun kissed and tan, the only facial feature being a small scar that runs down his right eye. Right now he was wearing his relaxation attire, which consisted of a small black winter cap, white long-armed shirt with the sleeves rolled up, baggy black cotton sweats, and grey slip on flats. He was also wearing his signature blue scarf, something he never takes off his neck. I've never seen Duncan's magic, for all the time I have been with him he's only needed to use his fists. He may not seem intimidating, seeing as he's always smiling, but he can seriously lay the smack down on you. I remember watching him single handedly take on a treasure guild that was jeopardizing one of our jobs. It didn't even look like he was trying.

But the most important thing about Duncan is that you just can't not like him. Well, unless you're Miller, but that's something else. He helps everyone out, tending the bar, preparing meals, helping scout out good jobs, and even helping the new members train for the first month or so of their initiation. I've always looked up to him as like a big brother, and he always acts as if I'm his little sister.

"Well that's a great question Dani, but unfortunately I don't have time for Q and A with Danika Roberro, so I'm sadly going to have to catch you later." Normally I would have been miffed, but his face was so sarcastic it was obvious he was poking fun. I glared at him anyway, simply causing the brunette to laugh, and I hated myself for letting the sound bring a smile to my face.

"Well, you're just going to have to make up for it." He smiled again, and I swear he's been using magic to whiten his teeth.

"That was the plan after all wasn't it?" He left, the question hanging as he made his way down the corridor past me. I smiled, before trying to remember what I was doing in the first place. I suddenly heard his voice come from around the corner.

"Oh yeah! And the path you want is to your right and up the first flight of stairs! Her office is right at the top!"

Office? ... 'UH OH!'

Master is going to kill me!

With that, Chapter one concludes. You Like? I can't tell if you're nodding or shaking that head-o-yours, but hopefully it wasn't total garbage. As you can see, I'm starting one of those 'A new guild popped up, lets see what happpens' kind of story, but I'm not going crazy on the characters. Sure, there might be quite a few characters that have a small appearance, but in the end I will just be circulating through a small group of protagonists. Danika will be one of these characters, and most of the other people mentioned will stay along for the ride. However, as I stated, they mostly won't have as in depth character development as good old Dani. Don't worry though, I know for a fact that Nissa and Cynex are going to get some screen, um, page time.

Anyway, with that out of the way, I would like to say a few things that you guys can contribute to the story. As of now, I have two or three arcs swirling in this big head of mine, but if you guys have ideas for a good major conflict, I am all ears. Also, I will be accepting OC's. Before you rush to you're PM (Please PM if you are going to submit something!) I want to quickly state a few things. First, I have a small list of what I kind of need to know about the character on my bio at the bottom, so please look at that first. Next, I am only accepting a few OC's for the guild itself, so if you send in an OC and you don't see it make an appearance in the Guild, I'm sorry, but I don't want too many characters.

However, I will not forget about you're character. If it does not join the guild, he/she will definitely make an appearance as either a member of maybe another guild, or even as an enemy! And who knows? If I start to like writing about them, they might even team up with Dani and Co.!

Anyways, I've rambled on long enough, so thanks for reading, and peace out!

SillyCurse :)