The kitsune pushes herself into the guild, a bag of jewel thrown over one shoulder and a paper in one hand. Ria yawns as people make way for her and plops herself onto a barstool. The sack falls to her feet and Ria drops the completed job request form onto the counter.

"Never again, human," Ria hisses as the current guildmaster bows at the waist.

"N-no one else could finish this request Honorable Spirit, S-sorry to inconvenience you."

"Those ten year quests should be the government's problems, not mine. Geez what a bother," Ria groans and shivers, she can still feel the ooze of the poison crawling on her skin. The poison itself wasn't the problem, of course, but it was sticky and the place had turned into a cursed bog so it smelled. Her fur still clung to itself from the sticky residue and the humidity had caused her to fluff out terribly. "It took someone over ten years to solve that?"

"Not everyone has poison resistance like you, Cousin Ria," a young man laughs and cuffs the kitsune on the shoulder.

"I am not your cousin," the kitsune grunts and pushes Evergreen's last life's grandson away. "Really? Does no one use poison magic anymore? I guess holy magic would work too if ya had to."

"A lot of magics have fallen into obscurity since your childhood, cousin. I think you're the only mage who uses curses still."

"Honorable Spirit, a message came for you while you were away. It's from a civilian named Beset."

"Huh, Beset sent me something? I didn't even know she knew I was guild affiliated," the kitsune notes as she takes the lacrima from the guildmaster.

"Your guild mark is right in plain sight, cousin."

"And so is every other tattoo on my body. I'm going to go watch this. I'll see you… sometime."

"Try to show up within the decade, will ya? You go off radar so much no one's ever sure if you're still alive."

"That crest I placed on you would break if I die. See ya, Master, the rest of the payment for the quest is on its way. Update the guild hall or something."

The kitsune ignores the stuttered thanks, how did such a spineless human become guild master? Her father would have never stood for it, that's for sure. But whatever, Ria never desired to run the fluid of knuckleheads. With a yawn, Ria meanders upstairs and picks a corner. A burst of light shines as the magic seal breaks and Beset's annoyed face appears before her. She's in her mid twenties now, red hair tied above her head in a knot.

"Geez, kid, this is way too much work. Why do you have to be so old fashioned? These letter lacramia are not easy to find you know! Anyways, I tried calling your guild and apparently you're on some ten year quest or something? I'll hear about it on the news when you're done, I'm sure. Anyway, you missed your birthday- which you're supposed to spend with me. So as soon as you get back you better get your furry ass over here. I mean it, Ria! Do not make me drag myself to Magnolia just to chew you out. Bye bye now."

Ria closes her eyes with a groan and grabs her travel bag from the floor. First stop, bank. Next stop, train.

Beset's bar is closed by the time Ria drags herself to the door. It's nearing midnight and Ria hasn't slept in almost two days. However it is Beset, who is her drunk wine aunt in spirit, so she yanks the door open.

"Beset I have not slept in like, two days. I am sleeping on your floor if you do not let me upstairs- ack," Ria's words are cut off as a beam of light sizzles through her clothes and throws her into the street through the open door. "Owww, that actually kind of hurt," the kitsune mumbles and rubs at her head. "Dumb holy magic. I thought they said no one uses it anymore."

"Who are you?"

The kitsune looks up at her attacker and scurries to the side to dodge another beam of light. She can smell the burning sizzle of her tail fur as it gets singed and Ria throws up her hands in surrender.

"H-hey I'm just here to see a friend."

"I've known Beset for years and I've never heard of her being friends with a demon. Get lost!" the blonde growled, blue eyes shining in the lamp light.

Ria skids across the pavement as another burst of magic explodes beside her. The mage lurches forward, a glowing halberd appearing in her hand that she slices through the air. Ria jumps, narrowly avoiding the sizzling heat of magic and lurches forward.

"H-hey, I don't really want to hurt ya; so could you please stop?" Ria pleads as she lunges at the mage and lands squarely on her chest- pushing her to the ground. With a heaving breath the smell of daphne floods her nose and her muscles stiffen. Powerful mage, smells like daphne, she knows Cana! Ama!

Pain flares in the girl's skull, spit flying out of her mouth as a burning fist blisters through her throat and sends her flying off the blonde below her.

"Mina, wait! Wait!" Beset screams as she comes flying through the street. "Wait! Stop- that's, that's Ria!"

Beset ushers them both into the bar, locks the door behind them, and starts fussing over Ria's blistering skin. The kitsune rolls her eyes and pushes the redhead away from her. She hisses as she prods at her wounds, the skin red and peeling at the edges.

"Ria, let me look at it. They're going to get infected!"

"I'm fine. You think this is the first time I've been roughed up? My father has hurt me worse," Ria snarks and watches as the skin starts to scab and heal over. "The holy magic slows the process, but I'm fine."

"I'm… sorry," Mina admits and wrings her hands in front of her. "I didn't know."

"It's okay! It's not the first time I've been thrown around. You've always- You're already so strong!" Ria hastily corrects herself. Not throwing herself at her reincarnated mother or slipping on her words already tripping up her tongue. "You're probably as strong as my mother was when she was your age!"

"Your mother…"

"Yeah! Here, look." Ria fumbles for one of her lacrima. A memory that had been stored inside plays as the orb glows and Mirajane Strauss is doing a ballroom dance with Laxus across the floor of whoever's party they were at. "That's my ama and papa."

"Are they at a ball? Gods, how old is this, Ria?" Beset asks as she hesitantly pokes the image with a finger.

"This memory? Um, I was sixteen at the time. Not that anyone treated me that way, because I still looked eight."

"This was over nine hundred years ago?!"

"She kind of looks like me," Mina comments as she watches the image shift as Ria jumps into Mira's arms. The blonde smiles almost nostalgically, and Ria wonders if this is messing up fate somehow.

"I hope that I find someone that hot to marry."

"Beset! Ew, that's my dad."

"That doesn't make him not hot, Ria! Hey, you don't happen to have like, a ten times great nephew do you?"

"Beset!"

Mina ignores the squabbling as she continues to watch the memory, not caring once the feed starts to loop from the beginning. Her heart pangs in her chest and her hands twitch with the urge to cuddle the demon to her chest. The mage shakes her head and turns the lacrima off. What an odd feeling.

"So why is she here?" Ria's question draws Mina's attention back to the demon chatting up her best friend.

"Ah, me and Mina have known each other for ages! Her younger cousins spend the summer here, they lived with her for a long time, and they used to keep me company while my pops was busy working the bar. She even helps me out with bartending sometimes."

"Well I'm sorry that I interrupted your time-"

"It's alright. I shouldn't have thrown you out the door," Mina reassures and ruffles Ria's hair between her ears. "Hey, please let me look at those blisters will you?"

Asvoria does, if only because when she closes her eyes she can pretend this version of Mira knows who she is. The touch is gentle as it always is and a careful hand massages her ear. Ria flinches away when Mina attempts to heal her, her innate affinity toward holy magic clashing with Ria's curses. The kitsune waves away any apologies and they settle on wrapping them in some ointment that Beset keeps under the bar counter.

"Gods, Mina. You're such a mom."

"Oh shut up, Beset," Mina counters even as she gently ties off the bandage. "Not everything can be handled with vodka and hope."

"Ooh, so mean. Come on, let's head upstairs. We can watch a movie."

All of them can not fit on the couch, it's only a loveseat after all. So Ria turns into a fox and Mina pulls her into her lap, the fox's head laid across her arm and the demon's eyes lull into sleep as the blonde pets her dense fur.

"If your boyfriend was here, he'd be grumbling."

"Please, he's a big softy. I think he'd love her."

"You know she's not actually a kid, right? Or a fox?"

"You're the one always worrying about her being alone since her entire family is dead. I'd want someone to cuddle with every once in a while if I outlived anyone I would ever meet."

Asvoria wanted to reassure them it's not as bad as they think, but she is too tired to transform and say so.