Chapter 3: The Watching Eyes of the Shadows
The group, despite many trials and tribulations, managed to arrive at the legendary guild hall at eight with their sleepy, drowsy selves. But despite all that, the group was astonished by the grace and power one single building held.
Fairy Tail's guild has had many variations throughout the past eras but nothing was as beautiful as what was before them. The guild was built in a stocky-like manner, with accents reminiscent of what was on old Japanese temples. The swirling accents of the sides surged upwards to create the same patterned roof, that wasn't technically a roof as it had a nice, quaint cafe set up-scents of chocolate and peppermint wafted down to the team's hungry ears. There was also a league of stairs circling up towards the cafe, which was lined with a couple of potted plants and more laterns. There also seemed to be a couple of outwards bulges in the temple-like guild hall, most probably for resting quarters, and other add-ons throughout the years like the blue, red, gray, white, and black dragons.
The sight left the paranormal team in shock, as a smile wormed its way to Serena. The graceful exterior of the guild made it seem like it was a challenge to reach down to the nitty-gritty past of the guild, something that Serena enjoyed; to see the shock from the scandalous nature of their past, always had made Serena smug beyond repair. Oh gosh, she was going to enjoy this.
Just then, two figures stepped out from the gorgeous guild, both in traditional clothing consisting of a cherry blossom kimono and a plain white men's kimono under a blue and white checkered haori. Serena felt as though she must bow when seeeing them, as they both commanded attention. The others shared a look and they bowed their heads to the floor, not worthy of sight.
"Please, that isn't necessary. We're only guild masters, not royalty," the figure in the cherry blossom kimono said gently. Serena picked up her head to meet the guild masters, glorious as their guild.
The woman in the cherry blossom kimono had infinite, flowing chestnut hair that transitioned to a dirty blonde. She had dark, commanding eyes that were green in color. She has a few blemishes of makeup but it wasn't clear to see. The man had lightning-blonde hair, and was spiky in shape. He had gruff, narrow, grey eyes that seemed to follow you wherever you went. Both stood proudly in front of the guild, dressed only in the finest of materials.
Mariam spoke first. "Good morning, guild master and mistress, I'm Mariam- the one who emailed you this morning?" The woman nodded; it seemed she was more vocal than her husband. "And who are these individuals?" She said, gesturing towards Serena and Xavier.
The ravenette took it upon herself to cut into the conversation, taking over. "I'm Serena, and he's Xavier. It's very nice to meet both you, and I'm very excited to start this investigation," Serena said, curtsying politely. "Oh, well you too. This is my husband, Ray Dreyar. Would you all like to come in, I could tell Riya to whip up something fast. After all, you must've rushed here," The guild mistress said, seeing right through her.
Despite the better of herself, she hungrily nodded along with her other teammates, following in the couple like hungry dogs.
As soon as the doors flew open, all the lovable chaos of the Fairy Tail guild hit them in the face. Fists flew from all over and the laughter and the smiles of the happy mages were echoed all throughout the guild. Many stood together in congregated groups, some mulling over the morning rush with a mug of lead, some with coffee or the kids with chocolate milk.
All of the sound reverberated against the high, curved ceiling of the guild that hung beautifully intricate fabrics that depicted different forms of magic, along with more mood lighting. Pictures of young and old decorated the wall, some from this century others from last few centuries. Pushed to the back was a high, indoor balcony that Serena guessed housed the infamous S-class mages. It seemed very cozy, with a ton of chairs and fireplaces which were nice after a long, rough mission. They had a self-serving bar as well, also with a few pictures of childhood and themselves on the board. And, just like the main lobby, hung photos of legendary past mages, that were painted with their magic flaring behind. Next to that, was the twin of the outside stairs, also with some cool accents.
"Come on, take my hand. You're going to get lost without me," Serena heard the guild mistress said. Then, a suddenly large hand took hold of hers, and the ravenette realized it was the guild master now, a firm hold on hers. She was jerked into the mess of fights, trying to maneuver her non-athletic body to avoid flying bodies and the large crowds. She could faintly hear Mariam and Xavier trying to call out to her, but it wasn't exactly clear.
However, she could understand why after being thrown to the ground from a flying body. Her attacker was fairly buff and darker. Her hair was shiny with sweat as she quickly got off the ground to charge against her guild mate, who was slightly cowering in fear but managed to keep a straight face. Her partner seemed more scared of the fiddling, growing plant that submerged deeper through the rickety floorboards of the guild, which Serena watched with entranced eyes.
Then, the woman's partner noticed Serena on the ground and they gestured for her, causing the girl to turn around. Her dark brown eyes widened in concern, and offered up her hand to only get roughly thrown up off the ground. Another flying body threatened her already weakened state, but her savior blocked it, offering up a hard punch to the face. The paranormal investigator cringed as they fell to the ground, looking back to the savior.
"I'm Mako Serata, nice to meet you! Are you new to the guild?" She said loudly to be heard over the general chaos. Serena hesitated, but shouted, "I'm Serena, nice to meet you. I'm the paranormal investigator here to... well, investigate. But I lost your guild mistress, so any idea where she is...?" Serena said, feeling a hot sensation creeping up in her throat.
Apparently, Mako seemed used to the loud noise and yelling. "Oh, I remember Mom saying we had a ghost investigator coming, I didn't expect you all to be coming so shortly though! Where's the rest of your team, Serena, or are you a one-person band?" Mako asked, playfully. Serena felt herself starting to get tired from all the shouting, so she was thankful the guild master called her name.
The crowd immediately spread out, not wanting to get on their master's bad side, which left an already-exhausted Serena in the middle, vulnerable. Sound shifted to complete silence, which only left anomalies to explore it; the ravenette could feel more eyes on her than how many bodies were accounted for.
Serena shrugged off the weird feeling, and journeyed to meet her friends where the S-Class wizard balcony was. There stood the guild master and mistress, still proudly at the front.
She took a more jovial and comfortable tone when speaking with her fellow guild mates, Serena noted, than when she first greeted them outside. "Hey, so, remember when I told you all yesterday that a paranormal investigator was coming to check out the weird stuff that has been going on, right? Well, she's here earlier than I thought. I'd like you all to meet Serena King, Mariam Ester, and Xavier Light. Treat them with respect, please, and don't pull them into fights. We need them for ghost hunting," The guild mistress said, playfully prodding her family.
A few loud cheers went around for the group, as all three looked back, surprised. Then, all went about on their merry morning rush, a few waving hello as the group descended back into the mass of cheery people. Mako found them again after they came back down, and dragged them to a dark corner. Serena realized this was an interview after Mako sat down-and gestured to Xavier for the notepad, Mariam for the voice recorder.
"Since you all are ghost investigators, might as well tell you. So, one day when I was coming home from a job, my team and I arrived at the guild super late. Like around 4, I guess. We were all so freaking tired, so my friend decided on booze as a snack. They picked me and I went down to the cellar. It was, like, super weird down there and I had the feeling I was being watched. I guessed right when I was... touched," Mako ended, her voice winding down to a hushed whisper. Xavier's pencil was lightning writing this down.
"Touched... where?" Mariam asked, shoving the voice recorder to Mako insistently. "I still remember the cold spot, I believe it was on my wrist. It was crazy; no one else was down there with me, too, so it could've not been a person. I don't know, man, it was strange," The brown-haired shrugged. "Was there strange happenings in the past there?" Serena asked. The garden mage pursed her lips in thought. "I believe not...? I don't know, I'm not the best at history. When Mom tries to tell us anything, it goes straight through my head. Sorry," Mako joked, her apology seeming sincere.
The team leader stomped her foot in frustration, crossing her arms. It was a tiny start, that got them no where. "Thanks for your time, Mako. See you around!" She waved her off. The group sighed. "We could walkways check the library for history things," Xavier said, playing back the audio.
"Yeah, we could, but we have more interviews to do; of course, we'll try for tomorrow, though, should be enough time," Mariam said. The two other members nodded their heads, and moved onto the next waiting mage; hands poised, ready for battle.
And it's done! Whoo! Sorry for it being kinda late. I know it's now Tuesdaymorning but hey, at least it's not a week late. Hope you all enjoyed, stay healthy, stay safe, and have a good day/night! Bye~!