"Hmm I gotta say I was hoping for a more entertaining battle…do you have any backup because that would make things a lot more fun!" Erika called out to her opponent who right now was a bloody mess; it was difficult to tell that he was a man what with the severe injuries Erika had dealt him

"She's insane" he thought barely keeping himself upright thinking about the failed plan: he was only supposed to test her and then come back with a report which was easy for someone of his talents, but this girl had different ideas. She wasted no time in beating him into a bloody pulp, she was much faster than he realized and her hand to hand abilities were far superior to his. She hadn't even used magic to do this, and to make things worse she had no problems with his water magic and often times used his attacks against him.

"Hmm I guess that's a no to the backup then, oh well looks like this is where it ends for you!" she called back raising her right arm up, a magic circle appeared in front of her and soon a stone golem around six feet tall rose up with a large stone spear in its hands. She pointed to the man and it nodded before moving towards him.

"Stay back!" he screamed unleashing concussive water blasts at the golem which had no effect on it at all, in fact all it did was run faster at him and impaled him with its spear. It took its spear out but kept it at the ready while Erika came closer to examine the body

"Oh look you're still alive, but it looks like you're in pain. Don't worry I'll fix it!" she said with a bright smile, she extended her right arm towards the ground and soon the earth began moving up towards her arm and surrounding it; soon a large arm was formed which Erika used to crush the man's chest in a single blow killing him instantly, she then waved her left hand and the golem and the earth around her arm crumbled apart.

She then sat on the ground to relax on the hilly terrain and watch the sunrise after the battle she had won. Her opponent was lying dead at her feet with fear and shock etched in his eyes; most people tended to underestimate her until they fought her. She didn't blame them though, she honestly didn't look that intimidating: she was barely in her twenties, around average height, had short messy red hair, and her clothes were always wrinkled; in fact the only things that she had that could scare people were her blood red eyes, and the eerie smile she gave when a fight was about to happen. Fighting was in her blood as far as she was concerned and she had been trained to fight at a very young age so that's what she did. She preferred to be alone but that was due to the fact that there weren't many people who were like her, nobody who shared her drive to fight, nobody who didn't care about how she looked, and nobody who cared about how happy killing her opponent made her feel.

"Guess I'm just doomed to walk this earth alone" Erika sighed "Wait, who am I talking to? Is it you? No wait you're dead so it can't be you" she muttered at the dead body wondering if she was going crazy

She pondered this question for a few moments before she decided it wasn't worth thinking about, also the body was starting to attract flies so it was time to leave. She dusted off her shirt and noticed that there was some blood on it, as much fun as it was killing people the mess did annoy her as it was difficult to get the stains out. Erika sighed before she suddenly turned around, stomped hard on the ground to create a wall of earth in front of her, and then hearing the sound of metal hitting the wall. She frowned as she couldn't sense where her enemy was, a first for her; she looked around and saw a woman approaching her with a gun in her hands. Erika couldn't sense an ill will coming from this strange woman but took no chances, she raised both her arms up and five magic circles appeared around her and soon golems were rising from the circles. All were around ten feet tall with large stone weapons in hand and they formed a defensive barrier in front of Erika.

"Easy there, the shot I fired earlier was to test you" the woman called out

"That's what they all say! That's not true actually; you're the only person who's confronted me with a gun so ignore that last statement! Who are you anyway? Were you this guy's caretaker, if so then you're too late?" Erika called back

"My name is Silva, and no I'm not this man's caretaker…I'm his superior" Silva said strapping her gun to her back and it disappeared causing Erika some confusion "Don't worry it's in a pocket dimension, if you're as good as my master thinks you are then you'll kill me before I can take it back out"

"That's reassuring" Erika said cheerfully, previously unaware of her ability to do that "So what'd you wanna talk about?"

"Well I had a proposal for you, but I'd like to talk face to face about it" Silva said while measuring up the five golems in front of her that were staring at her

"No problem!" Erika said and with a wave of her hand the golems crumbled apart surprising Silva

"You know I didn't really mean get rid of them, just for them to move out of the way" Silva said while moving closer

"Eh it's easier if I just destroy them and make new ones" Erika said as she made two seats of earth for them to sit on

"I see" Silva said confused by this girl's behavior as she took a seat

"Oh right I should introduce myself first! I'm Erika" Erika said

"Erika…?" Silva asked looking for a last name

"Just Erika, my last name is something I don't really tell to people" Erika said momentarily growing serious before smiling again "So let's get down to business, what do you want to talk about?"

"Right, well I came here to make a proposition to you" Silva started

"What kind of proposition? Is it one of those here's a million jewel now go kill someone type of propositions, because let me tell you I'm totally cool with that…in fact please tell me it's one of those" Erika said excitedly

"Um, no" Silva said wondering what her master saw in this girl

"Oh well, my fault for getting my hopes so high" Erika sighed "So what is it then?"

"We'd like for you to join our organization and help us achieve our goal for bringing peace to this land"

"Peace to Ishval, are we at war with someone? If so why have I not been told of this?"

"No not Ishval, peace to all of Earthland"

"Eh?" Erika asked a bit confused

"Look what are the greatest threats to humanity at the moment?" Silva asked

"That depends on one's opinion of the word threat: an individual can be a threat, a group of people could be a threat, an entire nation, or you could go all philosophical and name a concept as a threat" Erika said "Unless of course this was just a preface to your next statement and I wasn't supposed to actually answer the question" she continued

"Um yeah" Silva said now thoroughly confused by Erika "Two threats that come off the top of my head are the Black Wizard Zeref and the Dragon King Acnologia"

"Well they're certainly scary I'll give them that, I doubt anyone can beat them in a fight" Erika said admiringly

"For a while that's been the common belief, however what if I told you there exists magics that would allow for both of them to be killed?" Silva asked

"I'd believe you" Erika said

"Really?" Silva asked a bit surprised

"Yeah, I mean you just said that there is some magic capable of killing both of them and I'm sure there is some magic capable of killing them. Just because I don't know what this magic is or what it looks like doesn't mean it's fake" Erika explained

"This is much easier that I expected" Silva thought as she wasn't sure of what to think of Erika now, on the surface she seemed like an idiot and even when you dug a little deeper she still was an idiot. But Silva now began to wonder if this was just a ruse for the girl to remain unnoticed, she looked over at the remains of her former lieutenant. She only sent him to evaluate Erika and come back with a report, yet the fight between the two was short, awfully one sided, and she felt that Erika had turned into a monster during the fight.

"Hello, you alright in there?" Erika asked cheerfully

"Yeah just reevaluating you is all" Silva said

"Oh, so where is this magic or magics anyway?" Erika asked

"Somewhere inside the Imperial Palace, the only person who knows about is the Emperor himself" Silva said

"And how'd you find that out?" Erika asked curiously

"We have an informant who knows a lot…probably a bit too much" Silva answered

"Hmm, so why hasn't the Emperor done anything with this magic himself?" Erika asked

"Because the magic is far too powerful for normal mages to control, and if he allowed a strong person to control that magic they might take over Ishval if not more." Silva explained

"So why should I believe that you guys would be so benevolent as to destroy both Zeref and Acnologia but not try and gain political power?" Erika asked

"This girl knows what she's talking about that's for sure" Silva thought "Because it wouldn't be just someone within our group holding the power, there would be multiple people which would make sure one couldn't gain too much power since theoretically there would be others to balance that person out" Silva explained

"Oh so just like how the current Gods all get along with each other?" Erika asked

"Exactly, albeit if we're right about the scale of magic they'd be actual Gods instead of just titles" Silva said

"Hmm, so who gets this prospective power?" Erika asked

"My master would be one, there is one who has promised to join us who will also receive this power, and perhaps even yourself if you agree to join us" Silva said

"As much fun as it sounds to be a God things would be too easy, I mean part of the thrill of fighting someone is the risk that you die too you know?" Erika said

"Well you don't have to accept that part but we would like for you to join us" Silva said

"Will I get to fight strong people?" Erika asked

"Lots"

"Alright I'm in" Erika said

"I should have just started with that shouldn't I?" Silva sighed

"Probably, oh what organization am I joining?" Erika asked

"Tartaros"

"Oh, so those elite members actually exist?"

"Yes I'm one of them and now you, we also have a few that are ingrained within the higher portions of Ishvalan society so we can spy on the Government" Silva explained

"Cool!" Erika said excitedly not sure what that meant "So when do we seize power!" she asked growing more excited

"In due time, but take this" Silva said handing her a card

"A ball? I'm not into those kind of things, besides I don't really have formal attire nor do I know how to act properly in these settings" Erika said examining the invitation

"It's held in the Imperial Palace and it's when the Emperor is at his most vulnerable, this is when we'll make our move" Silva explained

"Well that answers that, but what about the formal attire stuff" Erika asked

"I can help you with that"

"I also need etiquette coaching"

"I guess I can help with that too"

"Cool then we're settled?" Erika asked with a wide smile sticking her hand out in a friendly gesture

"Indeed" Silva said with a thin smile as she shook her new ally's hand although it turned into a frown when she noticed someone on another hill a ways off spying on them. She could tell it was a man with spiky hair and was fairly tall but that was about it; she pulled out a rifle from the pocket dimension on her back and aimed at the man.

"What's going on, another test?" Erika asked curiously

"Just keep your head down and let me pick off this guy and we'll be off" Silva said as she aimed down the sights at the man and fired a shot at him, the man ducked and then jumped away behind the hill before Silva could aim another shot at him

"He ran off, do you want me to go after him?" Erika asked

"No need, I doubt he could hear what we were talking about. The only thing he could possibly get from watching us was that we're now in agreement over something since we shook hands; now come on we've got a lot of preparation to go through if we want this to work out" Silva said getting up to leave with Erika in tow

"I can hear you Silva and Erika Scarlet" Cobra said dusting off his coat "I guess I should warn those Fiore mages before the ball happens huh?"