Friction Hearts

1.1

Luminis panted, stopped to breathe and spun on her feet. This needed to stop. In a battle of attrition, she would lose.

Oliver paused as she did, a distance in front of her, still far too close. His black-brown hair was drenched with perspiration, the wild curls drooping under the beating the sun. Beads of sweat ran down his face, disappearing into a close shaved beard that might have looked neat once but now was at least a couple days in need of a trim. He was covered in glowing, multi-coloured runes. It might've looked comical if it weren't for the situation.

Luminis squared herself. "Light Beam!"

Oliver lunged, barrelling past the shaft of white-blue light and uncomfortably close to her. He struck out with interlocked palms, aiming for her solar plexus. Luminis managed a block, barely, created a shapeless blob of solid light between them, but one of Oliver's hands was as big as her head and the impact was enough to wind her. Luminis crumpled.

"Light-Make: Lance!" she gasped. The shapeless blob speared at him, a weapon the instant she finished her sentence, and Oliver had to move. Luminis swung her lance in a wide circle, but he was prepared now and caught the lance with an arm covered in variety coloured runes. Predominantly white, seeming to drain the magic from her lance.

Huh, those weren't there before.

She needed distance, dammit, he was too dangerous at close range. "Light Dragon!" The dragon lurched out of her in an enervating experience, a radiant menace of bared teeth and opalescent scales, seeming to haul out most of Luminis' strength with it. It rushed forward, slamming into an occupied Oliver with a satisfyingly loud crash that made the magic exhaustion worth it. He skidded back, dragging a dirt trail all the way into the tree line and out of the clearing.

The dragon's long, snake-like body turned to her in a swift movement, and Luminis grabbed it by the horns as it passed her, leaving her lance behind. She hugged her body to its neck, thankful she was small enough to manage this, and went up. Luminis circled in the air, pale blue hair whipping at her face where it'd slipped from her bun, her gold eyes searching as she took the time to rest. It was a second before she caught a glimpse of Oliver through the foliage.

He was running. His shirt, loose before, now clung to him in a mix of blood and sweat, outlining a muscled chest that could rival a body builders. There was a large, circular hole at the front, singed at the edges, though the tan skin underneath was unharmed, the runic markings glowing. The blood was from lacerations at his left arm, where he'd tried to block her whip and got his arm caught in the process. The runes there didn't glow, they'd returned to a dormant brown only a shade darker than his skin.

Luminis sped closer, reaching out with her palm. "Laser Beam." A shaft of light as wide around as her hand shot forward, slicing through all in its path like butter.

She hadn't aimed for Oliver, instead targeted the various trees around him. They crashed to the ground, the sounds of snapping branches and creaking wood reaching her all the way up from the forest floor. Oliver scrambled in the wreckage, but was unfortunately unhurt. However, Luminis could make out symbols sketched in paint on bark and much of the surrounding ground. She made sure to run her beam through the mystery rune symbols before the strain of maintaining the beam became too much.

She wasn't falling for that again.

Luminis felt her dragon falter, its light dimming, and deemed the ground safer than the air. She prepared to land, a ways away from the rune markings.

The dragon began to fade as she touched the ground. Luminis reached into the receding light. "Light-Make: Whip." She focused on condensing the light and ended up splitting the dragon in half, giving her two over long whips for each hand, easily ten meters. Much different than her usual, but she'd have to make do. She didn't have much magic left.

She tested them, found that she had some residual control over the whips left over from her Light Dragon, though the weapons were considerably less flexible and had an odd weight to them.

Something to experiment with later.

For now she went north, where she'd last seen Oliver run off to.

Luminis worked one whip into the air with clumsy telekinetic force and had it spiral her body, finding it much harder than managing the dragon, but doable. This way Oliver couldn't just jump out and surprise her at close range. Her other whip was used to clear the path in front of her, hopefully activating any trap runes Oliver would set.

Something hit her back, hard but small. Luminis felt something cool spill onto her, before the coldness turned into pain lacing through her system. She spun, saw reddish-brown on herself. Paint, it was a paint pot.

And Oliver – through the underbrush, brandishing a paintbrush in each hand.

Both whips in her hand struck out unnaturally fast. Oliver flashed violently, the ever-glowing runes on his arm intensifying to the point it was hard to see, and disappeared through the trees.

Luminis cursed, carefully wiping the stinging paint off herself. Using her magic against her, huh? They were at a stalemate then. He was a close combat fighter and she had ranged attacks, but her concussive beams weren't doing enough damage for some reason, and he was draining the light from her attacks and using it against her now. What was she to do? Oliver had more endurance than her. This needed to end quickly.

An inkling of a plan began to form in her head, and Luminis changed course. Oliver was too big to hide and much slower than her. Tracking him was easy.

She ran alongside him at a distance, snapping out with a long whip and was pleasantly surprised to find his ability to drain the light from it very limited. Oliver moved farther away, changed the direction of his run, but Luminis was hot on his heels. It was a cat and mouse game, with Luminis as the cat. Oliver had no long ranged attacks (other than paint pots of course), and Luminis had plenty. She didn't close in immediately though.

She was herding him.

Oliver must have realised how bad his situation was, because she saw the spark of an idea in his eyes.

"The Painter: Speed Force!" He painted two long stripes of red and yellow across his legs and rocketed off, through the only gap she'd left with her whips.

Luminis followed only slightly behind him. Her suspicions on his idea were confirmed when she arrived, and she almost smiled. It was where her Light Dragon had sent him, before, with the collection of messed up runes.

Which Oliver was now free to fix.

He stood in the middle of the make-shift minefield, safe in the knowledge she couldn't come closer anytime soon when she didn't know which runes worked or were unstable enough to activate on touch.

Ah, well, she was hoping she wouldn't have to use more magic. "Light Beam: Barrage!"

Oliver ducked behind a fallen tree. Rapid-fire bombardments of light burst from her arms, demolishing the scene. A quarter of the runes exploded on contact, roughly a quarter of them exploded with elemental effects. Fire, lighting, ice, and whatever else.

Luminis dashed through the clearing, keeping up her barrage as she approached Oliver. He ran, and took a blow to the chest for his trouble. What he didn't expect was for her to throw the whips. She took control of them in the air, wrapped them around him as tight she could and jerked them back to herself. Luminis pulled, wrapping each length of whip around her arm and bringing Oliver close. He didn't fight it, rolled with her, all remaining runes on his body activating in multi-coloured lights.

Rolling onto a fully intact rune, one Luminis had purposefully left alone in her barrage, one Oliver used often enough that she had recognised it.

It flashed in time with the markings on his body. Luminis grinned at Oliver's wide eyes. "You –"

Luminis gathered the last of her magic reserve. "Light Shield!" A full aegis erupted around her, fusing with her whips and trapping Oliver just outside. Luminis had the time to wish her shield was clear, just so she could see the look on his face, before a force rocked against her, and everything exploded into heat and noise.

"Out!" Clarion's voice cut through the battle haze, and Luminis' adrenaline supply. The shield fractured. Pausing was enough for the strain she'd put on her body to catch up with her. All the pain, aches, and bruises she'd just gained made themselves known all at once and Luminis fell to the ground, laughing despite the pain.

"Boo!" Luminis felt a pang of offense, because that was awesome thank you very much.

But Clarion's exclamation wasn't directed at her. "What was that, Ollie? If Luminis had been trying to kill you, you'd be dead. I know you can do better."

Luminis heard Oliver make a sound of disgruntlement, deep in his throat, but Clarion's disapproval seemed to melt into joy before he could muster the energy to reply. She appeared over Luminis, grinning. Clarion's long blonde hair tickled Luminis' face. "You beat him fair and square." She held out her hand. "Luminis Myrmidone, I now declare you S-Class."

Luminis took the hand up, taking in short, panting breaths through the pain in her chest, still a bit wobbly. Clarion had no trouble pulling Luminis to her feet. She was a busty, thickset woman, with a good 10 inches over Luminis' small, 5'2 frame. Luminis would bet 10,000 jewels Clarion could've thrown her clear out the field if she wanted, and Luminis didn't let go of money easily.

"A bit…" Luminis gulped in a breath. "Bit simple for an S-Class exam, isn't it?" Not that it wasn't hard enough, really. Oliver was tough, and trickier than the brute he first appeared to be.

Clarion smiled and tilted her head. Her eyes turned upward, and she tapped a finger to her chin with child-like consideration. "Well, the S-Class are supposed to be the stronger mages of a guild, and with only two mages and a guild master it would make sense that the better of the two mages – "

"– It was one fight!" Oliver, who now seemed to be able to breathe. He was doing better than her there –

"– Would be S-Class right?"

"I guess." Luminis grinned, she wasn't going to complain.

Clarion helped her over to a fallen log with no runes, offering her a bottle of chilled water that Luminis pressed to her newly forming bruises while she waited for her breathing to calm down.

Oliver had gotten up was walking towards them, and although he'd lost, he appeared to be faring a bit better than her at the moment. He stood tall, a giant of a man. He held his head high and broad shoulders back with an easy sort of confidence. The flesh of his left arm was ragged, still leaking blood onto the grass, and there was a large, starburst shaped burn where his rune had detonated under him. He almost looked intimidating – except he looked like a rainbow had thrown up on him, dripping every shade of paint. He looked a mess, but not at all bothered in the slightest.

Oliver dropped onto the log beside her. Luminis felt the impact as it worked to support his immense weight. Oliver was oblivious. He'd grabbed a water bottle from Clarion on the way and went on to drinking more than half before stopping. Hooded gold eyes regarded Luminis. Oliver's thick eyebrows narrowed at her darkening bruises. "Sorry about that. Might've hit a bit too hard when I finally got close enough."

Luminis, for her part, gave him an odd look. "We were sparring, Rainbow Boy, it's fine. Figured out who was 'the better of the two mages' in the end," she teased.

He looked himself over. "Oh, ha, ha, shorty," Oliver deadpanned. "Exactly, it's a spar. I shouldn't have hit that hard." He looked abashed now. "Should know my strength by now."

Luminis shrugged at him.

Clarion rolled her eyes. "Regardless, you can't deny Luminis is incredibly skilled."

That was apparently all the convincing Oliver needed. He conceded good-naturedly.

"Yeah, good job, Lu." Oliver clapped her on the back with a muscled arm bigger than her thigh, and Luminis stumbled, almost dropping her bottle.

"What happened to 'know your strength'?!"

Oliver shrunk back like a scolded puppy. As a bearded man well above 6 foot and built like a small house, it was a strange sight. "Sorry, sorry. Light-Make really is something, huh?"

"Hmm." She opened her bottle to drink before Oliver could actually make her drop it. "Didn't seem to do much to you after a while though." Luminis remembered something, and paused with the bottle at her lip. "How did you create that flash before?"

"Oh, that. We really need to brief each other on our magic and spells. See here?" He pointed at the now dormant brown runes on his chest through the hole in his shirt. "They're force absorption runes, basically they take in kinetic energy and I let it out later. They're why that dragon didn't completely wreck me."

Yeah, that had been disappointing. Luminis nodded him on.

"Light's just another type of energy. I screwed with the runes on my arms last minute to absorb light." Oliver shook his head. " Getting rid of the force absorption made catching that lance a pain. It didn't even make that much of a difference. If they took in light fast enough to, the runes would have filled with ambient light before I could get close to your weapons." Oliver was suddenly alert. "That reminds me, I think you should look away for a while."

Oliver stood and slipped a thin brush from his utility belt, walked a distance away, and stabbed himself in the arm.

"What –"An explosion of light from the arm, bigger than in the forest. It left motes of light dancing in Luminis' vision.

Clarion shouted out, unfazed. "Stop wrecking my forest, Oliver!"

Luminis looked at Clarion, grinning. "I think I did most of that actually." She turned to Oliver, frowning. "And what did you just do?"

Oliver walked back to her with a sheepish expression. "The kind of runes I use are really unstable, fiddling with them in the middle of a fight makes them worse. Needed to get those off me." Oliver went serious. "Don't ever draw on my runes."

"Right." Luminis agreed readily. "Why'd you do it if it was so dangerous?"

The sheepish expression returned. "Didn't want to keep hitting you?"

"You giant dork! You went easy on me?"

Clarion shook her head with long suffering weariness. "I think you'll find flinching at violence a constant with Oliver. It's unfortunate he's a close ranged fighter."

Oliver ignored Clarion's last comment. "It was just light anyway, wouldn't have done any actual damage." He looked at Clarion pointedly with his last words.

"Um, excuse me?" Luminis motioned at the wreckage of painted runes and fallen trees that surrounded them. Then at Oliver himself.

"…You know what I mean."

Clarion pouted. "Didn't I tell you two to keep the fight in the clearing? What am I supposed to tell the Dahlia Town Council?"

Oliver raised both brows. "What you said before about the inn, "I bought the deed, I can do what I want." Diplomatic you are not, Clary. I don't know why you're so bothered."

"I also said they wouldn't regret letting me set up base here. I don't care if they like me, but I need them to trust me."

Oliver gave her a look. "You know, things would go easier if they liked you too."

Clarion looked done with the conversation. She made a shooing motion. "It's likely. But for now, off to the clinic with you two."

Luminis moved to stand, found she couldn't. "I don't think I can walk that far."

"Oh, here." Oliver took out one of the reinforced paint pots on his utility belt. Yellow. He picked out a large paintbrush, the kind you'd use to paint a house, and dug it around the bottom of the pot. Judging by his appearance he'd probably used most of it on himself. Might be why he seemed fine right now.

"The Painter: Vital Spirit." Oliver handed her the brush and it thrummed in her hand. Luminis ran it over her left arm to her collarbone, then did the same for her left arm, trying not to think too hard about how she was ruining her favourite blue hoodie. She ran the brush down the front of her tank top, and both the legs of her baggy, black pants, before handing the brush back to Oliver. He dipped for more paint, said the incantation again, and then applied more paint to her back. Each stroke brushed a layer of lethargy from her body, leaked strength into her limbs. Luminis felt light be the end.

"Don't strain yourself. The magic will run out eventually and you'll be just as tired as you were. You'll be a strange sight walking down to the clinic, but you'll get there."

Luminis looked down at herself. "Is this revenge for the shirt?"

Oliver chuckled deeply. "Nah, I buy shirts in bulk, casualty of the magic. The explosion? Maybe."

Luminis nodded in understanding, and grinned. "Gold's the colour of winners anyway, brings out my eyes."

"It's yellow, and that was one fight!" He shook his head in exaggerated exasperation.

"And you lost," Clarion cooed.

As Oliver clipped the yellow paint pot back to his belt he turned to her. "Hey, do you know where my brown pot is? Commissioning holder magic paint pots is expensive."

Luminis looked over at the slowly setting sun and suppressed a grin. Ah, the perks of being a caster mage. "I think it's still back in the forest."

Clarion didn't hold back her laugh. Oliver groaned, said something about going to the clinic later, and went off to look for his paint pot. Clarion said her goodbyes and left for the guild, and Luminis began the long hike back to Dahlia Town.

Doctor Carlos Wicker was a grizzled prune of a man, with leathery sun worn skin and tufts of fluffy grey hair sprouting from his head. He walked with a hunch that made his small figure even smaller, and had a penchant for barking out orders with no sense of volume control, but Luminis rarely found people shorter than her and he had kind eyes. She quite liked him.

He whistled at the sight of her. "You fight a craft store, Girl?"

Luminis laughed. The doctor ushered her into the clinic, occasionally prodding at her injuries. The poignant smell of medicinal herbs hit her as soon as she'd walked in. The clinic was really nothing more than a wooden shack near the centre of Dahlia. There was a door near the back that lead to Doctor Wicker's living area, she knew, but the space that functioned as the clinic was fairly big even if it was smaller than most she'd seen. The furniture was made from the wood all furniture in Dahlia seemed to be made from, but there were splashes of colour to be found in the comforting mess of knickknacks and books on the shelves, the scattered medicine bottles, and the herbs growing in pots or left to dry by the windowsill. It all felt rather homey. Luminis looked for a seat, then wondered if the paint on her pants was dry. Would he care? He didn't seem mind the blood on his furniture. Doctor Wicker solved the problem for her by pushing her down onto a wooden chair.

Luminis smiled. "No evil art supply stores running around, Old Man. I was sparring with Oliver."

He snorted. "Kid's as big as any building I've seen. Seemed like the type with a little restraint, though. Guess he really is his sister's brother."

She shook her head, slapped his hand away when he poked too hard at her rib. "You're too quick to judge, you old fart. I was getting tested for S-Class."

He eyed her. "You lose then?"

She tried for an offended look, but her grin slipped through almost immediately.

"Oh? Congratulations. How're those brats anyway?"

"Clarion is her usual self. And you can ask Oliver yourself, he'll be here tonight."

"Heh, got him good did you?"

Luminis grinned again. "He exploded."

Doctor Wicker grinned back. "Nasty little imp, you. But I like 'ya." He reached out to ruffle her hair roughly.

"Don't." Luminis gave him an unimpressed look, then relented. "I might not look it, but I'm a 27 year old woman, you'll treat me like one."

The Doctor nodded, hands in the air in an appeasing gesture. "Got it, got it. Though I'd say all you young'uns were children to me. Sore spot?"

Luminis let her hair out of its bun and ran her hand through blue tresses, trying for a semblance of order. "Not particularly, but I don't even think children enjoy that sort of treatment."

"That's half the fun isn't it?" Doctor Wicker cackled and walked off, looking for something or other. Old coot.

He came back holding a book and a glass bottle filled with a mysterious green slop. Doctor Wicker flipped through the pages, found what he was looking for, and began chanting. "Alchemist's Treaty: Activate." The bottle shone, light flitting from bottom to top like sunlight on water.

He shoved the bottle at her. "Drink."

She did. The texture was as thick as it looked, but it tasted fairly mild, like breathing in the scent of freshly cut grass. Luminis could feel her pain fade to a dull ache, though looking at herself she found the bruising still there.

"That'll take care of all your internals, your body can do the rest. Can't let it get too used to magic healing or it'll get lazy 'bout fixing you up itself!"

Luminis nodded, she'd been through this before. She found herself thinking about what led him to Dahlia Town once again. It was strange to find a mage, much less a mage doctor, this far from the city. Mages, at 10% of the population, tended to concentrate together. You mostly found them in cities and large towns where other mages were. The places that got all the major jobs and where guilds, magic stores, and general mage resources set up, things that would fail out here for lack of business. Dahlia was colonized enough to be picked clean of choice magical resources, and too far from the cities to have any real mage presence. Mages might be in more demand out here, but it was a road that led to stagnation.

Her wondering led her to ask, "Why don't you join Frantic Heart, Gramps?"

He shook his head. "We're a tightknit community, Dahlia, and Mayor Nasak isn't happy with your Clarion or Frantic Heart. Your guild's got some fans around these parts but the majority will follow the Mayor's example. I'm not the only doctor here. I'm running a business and that guild won't do. Which reminds me…" Doctor Wicker gave her a look.

Luminis rolled her eyes and took out her jewels. She counted out in exact change and dropped them into his waiting hands.

He counted, nodding. "Why are you hanging around the Jones' then? I know a small town girl when I see one. Said you'd give them a week. Been a week, you leaving or not?"

He made it sound so simple. It should have been that simple.

Luminis considered the question, it was the first time their conversation had turned to her personally, and she didn't particularly enjoy it. She should have expected he'd ask her something after she did. "They say every mage should join a guild at least once. I wanted the experience I guess?" Luminis pondered her wording. "This one is the closest to home, the next closest is in the city. You were right, I've travelled a fair bit, but I've lived in the mountains most my life. I've never been to the city. It would just be… too much, too soon, you know?"

Too much, too soon. Things that could also be said of Frantic Heart.

Doctor Wicker said as much. "Ah, and how are you finding your guild experience so far?"

Luminis felt very aware of the blue guild mark on her right thigh, had the oddest sense that what she was going to say was a betrayal. "I like them…"

But even you can tell it's going to fall apart," Doctor Wicker finished bluntly.

Luminis shook her head. "I won't deny it's likely, but I'd say they have a chance."

'I want to give them a chance,' Luminis realised.

Luminis waited tensely for more questions about herself. She didn't really have any horrible secrets and she liked Doctor Wicker enough, but she valued her privacy. "I don't really want to tell you more," she said simply.

Doctor Wicker finally caught on to her discomfort. "Wasn't going to ask," he said, going on to ramble about some sort of new medicine or other.

Luminis smiled. She knew she liked him for good reason. What followed was a routine check-up to make sure everything was in order, and a long conversation about medicinal herbs found near Dahlia Town after Luminis mentioned some strange plants she'd seen on the way here. A fair amount of time had passed before she had to leave.

Luminis stood from the chair, which was just a bit sticky from the paint on her pants. "Nice to see you again, Doc."

Doctor Wicker opened the door leading outside, eyeing the new yellow paint job on his chair. "You too, Kid. Now get out. I need to find some plastic sheets to put down for the walking craft store. You tell me before you decide to leave, you hear?"

"Sure." Luminis grinned and slipped passed him outside, into the cool night air.

Luminis walked down the dark streets of Dahlia Town, taking the scenic route back to the guild now that she wasn't at risk of collapsing. People had already seen her walking down here covered in paint, it wouldn't hurt to enjoy a nice walk as well. Luminis had enjoyed a great view of the mountain ranges on her walk through the forest as the setting sun pulled a gradient of colour through the sky. Now as she looked up, she feasted her eyes on a sky choked with stars. Something she'd heard couldn't be found in a larger city with light pollution.

Dahlia architecture featured many old wooden buildings, probably put together with material from the surrounding forest, most weren't taller than the surrounding trees. She had no trouble seeing the sky from here. The town was both old in history and style. There was a sense of flow faster growing cities didn't have, where buildings sprouted up erratically to keep up with demand. The heart of Dahlia, close to where Luminis was now, was the town hall, the biggest building in Dahlia, and the river cutting through the town's middle. Luminis could guess that was where the settlement began. Everything grew from those points, with the most basic necessities clustered close and newer buildings, which curiously kept to the old-fashioned utile designs, flowed out from.

It was familiar, not only just because she'd been here a week, but because it was much like every other town she'd passed through on her travels. Dahlia wasn't a place many travellers passed through, but neither were the places she'd been. It was one of the middle of nowhere kind of towns, hunkered down in a valley between two no name mountains. You would have had to travel two villages over to get to the train station and into the bigger cities. Luminis guessed most who left didn't come back. It really was a surprise to find a guild opening up here of all places.

Population in the 3,000 range, a tightknit community as Doctor Wicker put it, and a small town mentality. Gossip would travel fast in a town like this with nothing else to amuse themselves with. New people were exciting, a curiosity, and not always welcome. Before Luminis had made a name for herself around the villages surrounding her mountain hamlet as a mage for hire, she had much experience with outsider prejudice. One of the reasons she didn't like talking about herself, when everything she said would often be taken out of context and twisted in the most interesting ways.

Luminis came from a place like this, had experience on both sides of the fence. She'd known Clarion and Oliver weren't local in any sense from the moment she'd met them, though Oliver was less obvious about it. They were outsiders in the extreme end. New mages from the city, sweeping in to start a guild and buy half the forest. She'd have been worried if it were her village. Clarion was a force of nature. Enthusiastic at best, obnoxious, loud, and demanding at worst. Entirely unsuited to the sleepy, old town of Dahlia, it was no wonder she had become such a controversial figure.

"Excuse me miss, could you lend me some of your time? I've seen you with the Jones', you're part of Frantic Heart, correct?" Luminis looked up and found patient blue eyes staring down at her. The woman smiled at her happily.

She had pale, turquoise hair. It was the first thing Luminis noticed. Shoulder length, with two longer strands in the front. Oddly coloured hair wasn't rare in Fiore, they were known for it – hell Luminis had blue hair – but she always found herself pausing when encountering it. The second was a scar, a shade lighter than already pale skin it curved from her left cheek to the bottom of her left eyebrow. There was a story there, and there weren't many reasons for scars like that that didn't include a fight. The woman had the lithe figure of an athlete but didn't look like a labourer or a local, wore clothes fit more travelling than heavy labour or everyday life. No, she looked like a mage.

"Yes," Luminis answered warily. 'Maybe she wanted to join?'

"I see." The woman's eyes narrowed the slightest and Luminis tensed in anticipation for a fight.

'Probably not then.'

"Nobuko!"

A short girl, even compared to Luminis herself. Cute in a very innocent way. The girl had green ringlets framing a pale, heart shaped face, with delicate features and full lips. She grabbed for the woman's, Nobuko's, arm and something tinkled with the movement. Luminis saw charms and bells hanging from bracelets and anklets the girl wore on each limb, and noticed with a bit of surprise that the girl wore no shoes. The dirt and calluses on the girl's feet said that this wasn't uncommon for her.

She looked at Luminis, more in her general direction than Luminis' eyes, and didn't hide the suspicion on her face. Luminis realised why when she stared into milky hazel eyes. 'She's blind.'

Nobuko didn't react as the blind girl grabbed her arm, was still staring at Luminis. "What is your opinion of that guild?"

People seemed very curious about that today.

"She's part of Frantic Heart?" the blind girl asked.

"Yes." Nobuko's stance softened, she'd tensed when Luminis did. She smiled down at the blind girl, and she seemed to sense it somehow, calming a little with it.

"Why do you ask?" Luminis said.

"I find your guild master grating." Nobuko spoke honestly, though she looked apologetic as she said it.

That… made too much sense, actually. Proved what she was just thinking about. It solved what this was about, anyway.

Luminis settled down as she realised she wouldn't have to fight after just being healed. "Clarion is a bit much sometimes, but she means well."

Nobuko had a pleasant expression, but Luminis didn't get the impression she believed her.

The blind girl spoke up this time. "Do you regret joining?"

Luminis actually considered the question. "No, I wouldn't say I do." It was a learning experience really. 'Were they thinking of joining?'

Nobuko looked thoughtful, flashed her another cheery smile. "I see. Thank you for your time."

Nobuko walked off, in the opposite direction Luminis needed to go and the blind girl followed her, asking a question Luminis didn't catch.

'What was that about?'

Luminis tucked the memory away. She needed to get back to the guild.

She got her answer sooner than expected.

"– Disagreement is good, Oliver, in fact, it's great. We can both agree I need someone to play devil's advocate, or I'm liable to get carried away –"

'Leave them alone together for an hour, come back to this.' It wasn't unexpected. Luminis took a seat.

"– But this? This is not okay." Clarion's had an arm on her hip and her pointer finger up, stabbing forward decisively to emphasising her words, like a parent scolding a child. Oliver bristled at the lecturing tone. "You have to trust me with this, Oliver."

Oliver's brow furrowed. "I don't know what this is!" He threw his hands up, voice strained. "You haven't explained anything!"

Luminis watched silently, staying very still. Thoughts of prey animals sprung to mind, how'd they'd freeze up in danger. Luminis never understood the logic of that, was more prone to the fight reflex herself, but she thought she understood a bit better now. A battle was one thing, this was something else altogether. Luminis didn't know where to begin in addressing any of it.

Yep. 'Freeze' was completely valid response.

Clarion smiled and shook her head, measured and patient. "I already said. 'This' is me trying to run a successful guild."

"Really?" Oliver's jaw was clenched, face scrunched up in a mix of doubt, worry, and anger.

"Really." Clarion's expression flashed to something serious for all of a split second, before melting into a cheshire grin."Cross my heart."

Oliver breathed out and Luminis found herself letting out a breath along with him. Tension left Oliver all in one moment and he slumped, looking incredibly worn out by the ordeal.

Clarion continued relentlessly. "You need to stop undercutting my authority. Those two were the fourth and fifth mages who have rejected our offer since Frantic Heart has opened. In public, at least, we need to show a united front."

'Ah, Clarion was recruiting.' That would've been what instigated this.

Oliver turned from Clarion and brought a hand to his temples, massaging them with quick, rough movements that Luminis doubted did him any good.

"Oliver, please look at me when I'm talking to you."

Oliver went still too quickly, Luminis' noted that immediately. She prepared to intervene, but Oliver only breathed out and let his hand drop. He levelled a stare at Clarion, face tight.

"Thank you. Well?" Clarion prodded.

"What? You are a bit of an ass," Oliver bit out. Clarion raised an eyebrow, frowning disapprovingly. Oliver ignored her and continued. "If she doesn't think she can work with you, it's probably for the best that she doesn't."

Luminis could almost hear his thought, 'Give someone a choice.' She'd gotten the full account of the guild's conception a few days after she'd joined. It hadn't been hard, Oliver was in sore need of someone to vent to and she was the only prospective member they hadn't scared off. Luminis, as an only child, had assumed this was a normal sibling dynamic. She wasn't so sure now.

"Trust me, Oliver." Clarion shook her head. "She wouldn't have had to work with me. She had no problem with you, we could have worked something out."

'But she'd still have to answer to you.' Luminis thought.

Oliver said as much, much less politely. "Why do you want them so bad anyway?" he said, thoroughly exasperated.

"Luminis, hand me the folders and books over there."

Luminis startled, didn't even know Clarion had noticed her coming in.

"Luminis?" Oliver jumped a little, spinning to her with wide, guilty eyes.

"Hey," she said, with an awkward little wave, then hesitated for a second. She didn't really want to involve herself in the family quarrel, but did as Clarion asked.

Clarion flipped through what looked to be a scrap book, filled with newspaper and magazine clippings from Fiore Monthly, Sorcerers Weekly, and the like. She stopped at a page near the middle, held it up and pointed. "Here. That blind girl's bodyguard? Nobuko Kobayashi. She was the Kobayashi heir. Or head now, whatever. She runs that fancy bodyguard company. She was good, Oliver."

'Blind girl? Nobuko?' Luminis took a closer look, and saw the woman with the scar.

"I met her on my way here," Luminis finally spoke up.

Clarion's sharp eyes snapped to her. "Oh, what happened?"

"We talked for a bit. Nobuko said you were grating, and the blind girl asked me if I regretted joining. I said no."

Clarion hummed and nodded, sitting down with a sigh. "Just trust me, Oliver."

Oliver was quiet. He sighed as well, and moved to the door. "Sorry you had to see that Lumi. I, uh, think I'll go to the clinic now."

Luminis nodded her acknowledgement. She moved to go upstairs, then looked at Clarion. She was flipping through the pages of her scrapbook. Luminis knew she herself had a page titled, 'The Light Demon of the Mountains.' The book was a compilation of all the notable mages of the larger area. There weren't many.

Luminis spoke into the silence. "I have to agree with Oliver on this one."

Clarion hummed at her, didn't look up from her book. "Then I need you to trust me too, Luminis."

Luminis made her way to her room. The inn was one of the few buildings built higher than the trees surrounding it, standing at four stories with a cellar. Her room was on the third floor, along with Clarion's. Oliver currently enjoyed having the second floor to himself. Each of the three upper floors had about eleven rooms, five on either side of a hallway with one large bathroom to each floor. Each room was spartan in decoration, with only a bed, desk, drawer and mirror, all in the plain wood Luminis was starting to associate with Dahlia. Her own room was fairly minimal as well, with only the clothes and camping supplies she had carried on her travels scattered around. She hadn't fully committed to the guild, didn't know if she was leaving soon, and hadn't really unpacked.

Luminis collected her nightgown and left for the bathroom at the end of the hall. She took a quick shower, happy to get rid of her painted clothes, and changed into the clean blue nightgown, preparing to go to sleep. Luminis couldn't help but think, as she drifted off, that Frantic Heart might be more trouble than it was worth.

This morning was looking to be calmer. When Luminis came downstairs she could smell the usual breakfast Clarion cooked up every morning. A large display of eggs, toast, bacon and sausages, as well as various fruits and juices on the side. Luminis could see a large chunk of the foodstuff had been taken already, and surmised Oliver had taken off for his morning exercises. Clarion was eating at the table. Her hair was still wet from her morning shower, but she was fresh-faced and already dressed for the day.

"Morning," she greeted Luminis sunnily.

"Morning." Luminis took a seat and began eating. It was an easy routine to fall back into, a comfort compared to the unsureness of last night.

Clarion tossed a something to her from across the table. Luminis caught it in the air.

"A key to room 25 on the top floor. You're S-Class so you have access to it now," Clarion said in explanation. "We'll post the S-Class missions there when the guild is more established."

She said the words offhandedly, not doubting for a second things wouldn't work out. It was hard not to believe her, but the odds weren't really in Clarion's favour.

Clarion perked up before Luminis could say anything, she stood, skipping up to the entrance. Clarion pulled at the door to reveal Oliver, who, as she'd thought he'd be, was still in his exercise clothes. There was a younger boy behind him.

Clarion beamed. "Oliver! And who's this?"

Oliver rolled his eyes, but it was an easy enough gesture that Luminis could tell they'd both forgiven each other for last night. Had they talked in the morning? Or had Clarion just acted normal until Oliver did? Both happened as much as the other.

Oliver walked into the guild proper, stooping low under the too short door. The boy followed, though he didn't need to duck. Luminis looked him over.

He was young, a teenager, wearing jeans and a t-shirt with the name of what looked to be some band emblazoned on the front. He ran a tan hand covered in small drawings Luminis couldn't make out through longer than average dark blond hair, but it flopped back into his eyes as he put his hand down and he didn't bother to fix it. He stood a little behind Oliver and avoided Clarion's gaze. Luminis caught his eyes and smiled. He gave a shy smile back.

Oliver turned to him. "This is Tanken. He's a mage, found him the magic section of the library. He wants to join."

Clarion's eyes shone. "Oh?"

Tanken spoke up. "Uh, well, yeah I gu –"

"Great!" Clarion, who'd brought her stamp tool out at the word 'mage', grabbed his wrist and stamped him decisively.

"Hey!"

Oliver winced. "Yeah, I know that feeling. Look, kid, we can take it off –"

Clarion moved behind Tanken, mouthing pointed words to Oliver. 'Undercutting my authority.'

"– But the guild mark isn't a contract. Just give it a try for a while and see if you like it?"

Tanken was quiet, rubbing at the guild mark on the inside of his left wrist.

"Pulling that again?"

Clarion seemed to be the only one who wasn't surprised by the sudden voice.

"Nobuko, Willow, you're back!" Clarion turned, grinning.

They were. Nobuko was the one who spoke. Standing just out the door were the two people Luminis had met on her walk last night. Luminis was quickly saying goodbye to her calm morning.

They walked into the guild hall as well, settling in opposite Clarion, Oliver and Luminis, closest to Tanken. Luminis wondered how the blind girl, Willow, seemed to navigate so well without the help of a walking stick or one of those magical guide creatures. Was it a magic?

Tanken moved away from the two people that were strangers to him, going a bit closer to Oliver but still very much on his own side of this weird conflict. Willow fidgeted behind Nobuko. Nobuko for her part shot Luminis and Oliver a joyous smile, then one less so to Clarion.

Clarion either didn't notice or didn't care. "Breakfast?" She motioned to the table. Luminis took a bite of her eggs before the situation escalated to the point where breakfast wasn't an option.

"No thank you," Nobuko said, with the customary politeness Luminis was beginning to expect from her.

"I'd like to hire you!" The outburst was from the small blind girl, Willow. She clutched at the fabric of her white dress. "I don't have many jewels, I used most of it to pay Nobuko and that was with a discount… but…"

Clarion went alert again, holding up a finger. "Just a sec." She left for the door.

Willow wilted, and Oliver cringed. Luminis could see the fractional shifts of Nobuko's expression as a shadow of disapproval formed over her face. Tanken was just plain confused.

Clarion opened the door again, shot a sunny smile to whoever was outside this time. Luminis pushed her chair a bit away from the table and caught a glimpse of the familiar burgundy uniforms of Dahlia's Home Guard. What were they doing here? She shovelled more eggs into her mouth. This was becoming a long morning.

"Good morning Ms Jones. Is Willow Jenson present?" A deep, rich voice. The head guard, Mathis Lacoste, along with two other guards Luminis didn't recognise.

Mathis was a man in his early 30s with close-cut brown hair and a clean-shaven face, and though he was shorter than everyone present excluding Willow and herself, he had presence. Part of it was the uniform. The ankh symbol of the magic council that authorized the Home Guard would have put any mage on edge, and the badge and three yellow stripes on his sleeve marking him as head guard gave him the respect of the town, but it was also just the air he cultivated. He moved through the world like he expected everyone to follow. A little like Clarion, actually.

Mathis looked at all the people present, nodded a greeting at her and Oliver. She was half surprised to find genuine like in his expression. She hadn't interacted much with Mathis. In a small town like Dahlia the people with power often let it get to their heads. Luminis didn't have many good experiences with guards in her travels. She preferred not to deal with them.

"Yep, Willow is here." Clarion beamed. "She's my new guild member."

Willow startled, her face the picture of surprise. Nobuko's eyes narrowed and Tanken's eyebrows disappeared into his bangs, though that wasn't hard considering most of it still fell over his eyes. Clarion had moved in front of Mathis as she spoke, hiding the expressions from the head guard's eyes.

Mathis nodded. He moved passed the door and Clarion, the two other guards stayed outside. 'So this is a short visit, then?'

Mathis knelt in front of Willow, his face breaking into a kind smile. "Hello, Willow, we've met before."

Willow bit her lip again. "Mr Lacoste. It's more bad news, isn't it?"

His smile turned sad. "We've just got a sighting of that crazy chief that's been following you. He's been hanging around the local dark guild, Liliger Depth. Heard you were still around so we came to warn you."

Willow's doll-like face screwed up into an ugly expression. Her hands balled into fists at her side, the bell on her wrist tinkling softly.

Mathis placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Sorry, sweetheart. I'm glad to hear you're joining Frantic Heart. Stay for a while, and let them protect you. The Home Guard will do its best to help you as well."

Willow nodded tightly. Nobuko approached the younger girl and put a hand on her other shoulder.

Clarion spoke from the door. "Thanks for your concern. We'll handle our affairs."

Mathis nodded, marching back to the two guards he'd come with. He turned to look back at them, all professionalism now. "Come to my office later, I'll fill you in on the pertinent details. We'll keep in contact, keep you updated on sightings of the chief and Liliger Depth. Take care."

They left as quickly as they came.

Nobuko rounded on Clarion as soon as the guards had shut the door, all cheerfulness gone. "Explain?"

"Join my guild, both of you. This is what you were gonna to hire us for, right? Stay the week, and we'll take out Willow's man for free. After that you can all leave if you're still unhappy with me." Clarion looked at all the faces present, Oliver last. "Even you Ollie."

The magic stamp tool was back. Clarion tossed it up and down in her hand. "Deal?"

Willow looked hopeful. "No catches? I join Frantic Heart, you guys help me, and I can leave?"

"Staying is also an option, but yep! No catches, cross my heart." Clarion leaned forward, placing a hand on Oliver and Luminis' shoulder respectively. "These two can verify, I don't lie."

Clarion didn't hiss or draw out her words, her tone was rather light. Luminis pictured a snake all the same. Willow didn't move her head, though Luminis had a suspicion she was paying close attention to them through whatever sense she used.

Oliver nodded, seemed to catch himself when he remembered Willow was blind, and then elaborated. "She bends the truth, but she doesn't lie."

"She hasn't lied the week I've known her," Luminis added, because as far as she knew, Clarion hadn't.

Tanken grumbled. "It was my original plan anyway, sure."

Willow bit her lip, considering, and then held out her hand. "Okay."

Clarion turned to the Kobayashi head.

"Come on Nobuko. There are runes here we can't change anytime soon, you need a guild mark to go upstairs and I'm guessing you'll want to stay close to your charge?"

Willow turned to her bodyguard. "I'll give you the rest the jewels I have. Please? I don't know anyone else here…"

Nobuko's eyes narrowed into a full glare, but she held out her hand. "I don't like you."

Clarion gave them both an impish grin, and Luminis knew what to expect by now.

Clarion held the stamping tool between thumb and forefinger. "Oh this? This was only a formality, I marked you two earlier when we met. You can pick out colours and positions now, though."

Nobuko bristled, and Oliver did something of a full-body wince in response. Willow patted herself down, as if she could feel out the mark on her skin. Tanken, hanging around in the back, looked oddly satisfied, probably happy he wasn't the only one pulled into this.

Luminis, for her part, was feeling very amused. She had an answer for Doctor Wicker. Another week.

Except… She frowned. "Does this mean jewel hauls are split six ways?"

A/N (AKA: If you think I've wasted enough of your time skip to the "IMPORTANT" section):

So yeah, we're jumping straight into plot!

It's done! Finally! Ahahahaha… How do those other SYOC authors do it? It turns out I'm one of those authors that takes a lot of words to get to the point, and that's a horrific realisation for me because I am a very slow writer.

And woot! My first fight scene! (Never mind that it's only, like, the last quarter of their fight…) You can all thank the wonderful Mary Allen for beta reading that 1,000 word battle and making sure it wasn't as confusing as it could be.

Thoughts? Criticisms? Who do you like better right now, Clarion or Oliver? Who's your favourite out of all the characters so far?

Character credits in order of appearance: (Do you guys want these or do they spoil who the really important characters will be? Should it be up to the sender if they want credit? Ah, well I'll put it here anyway)

Luminis Myrmidone created by Mary Allen

Nobuko Kobayashi created by The Ruffler

Willow Jenson created by KorianneAnders

Tanken Kuronohi Ōgama created by scarlet. the .hunter

Uncredited characters were created by me :)

IMPORTANT SECTION:

I have no plans to introduce more guild member characters until the next arc.

If you're reading this and wondering why I haven't accepted your OC and if this chapter means I'm rejecting them, have no fear! These 4 and the ones that I've confirmed are accepted are just the OCs I feel won't be hard to incorporate into a story regardless of the cast I pick.

I've heard it said that trying to write a SYOC story is like trying to smash a bunch of ill-fitting puzzle pieces together and hoping for a pretty picture. Taking on this task, I'm inclined to agree. I want to be careful of that and make sure the OCs fit together (different enough to tell apart, story arcs that flow into one another, halfway functional as team… etc.), except I don't currently have a lot to pick from.

I need about 5 more OCs, guys. If you're willing to risk me rejecting your character and wasting your time on my long-ass OC form, you can find it on my profile (read the rules and stuff too!).

Review Replies: (Omigosh guys I actually have reviews to reply to!)

Mary Allen:
You were right.

And thank you for beta-reading the fight scene :) I hope this lived up to your expectations!

The Eccentric in the Hat:
Thank you!

I probably needed to hear that. This whole thing is going to be a learning experience for me!

AltariaMotives: (Love your username by the way, made me smile)
Thank you as well!

Personally it ruins the realism for me to have no swearing at all, but I see where you're coming from. I hope it doesn't ruin the story for you if you keep reading :/ I promise not to use swear words willy-nilly! I'm a believer in holding back for shock value.

And thank you again! Though, I think it was easy to tell Clary and Oliver apart because they were the only two characters xD

scarlet . the .hunter:
Thank you! I hope the wait for this wasn't too long.

Constructive criticism is welcome! Also make sure to tell me about any typos you find so I can fix them.