A/N: And we're back. I'd like to thank the outpouring of support for the story. I'm really feeling all of the OCs I got after last chapter, and I'm really excited to fill out the rest of the roster. 11 to go! Without further ado, let's get to chapter 4!


8 June X820, Bosco Line, Somewhere in Fiore, 3 PM.

Silvius strained his eyes as the world came back into focus. He found himself shackled next to an older man, in a train car he didn't recognize. Damn. Drink must have been drugged. His right hand was still detached, and he could feel it, nestled in a booth in the dining car. Exactly where he'd left it. His feet were restrained, no doubt with moon drip. "Well, I guess it's lucky I thought ahead..." he muttered, as he felt around with his detached hand.

"Do you hear that?" the pink haired woman asked, as Silvius' hand sprang to life.

"Don't worry, Zoe, I'm sure that it's merely a rat," Damon laughed, not entirely convinced there was a sound at all.

Silvius felt around, realizing that his hand had come close to the bar itself. Doing his best to remember where the people were located in that car, he took a gamble and felt air displaced by a body. He quietly scaled his hand up the stool next to him. He had one shot at this. Smirking at how this whole thing looked, he jumped towards the presence he felt, and slapped her skirt upward, exposing what felt like a key ring, and scurrying his hand away.

"Shit, there's a random... Hand!?" Zoe shouted, directing Damon's attention towards the hand that had just left through the ajar door to the car's rear.

"It seems that hero boy found a way out. Follow that hand," Damon ordered, as he ascended from his seat, and activated his magic.

Silvius wasted no time in freeing himself as his right hand re-atached to his body, and sprang the lock after trying two keys. "Get everyone else out," he ordered the old man next to him, as he ran out of the car, into a largely empty one. Damn, of course there would be some space between the stockade and the dining car. His disappointment was soon replaced with disgust as the duo of slavers came to the other side of the door.

"Ah, so I see your little scheme worked, unfortunate," Damon sighed, as he waved his hand, a blue glob shooting out, and hitting the point under which Silvius was standing. A portal seemed to open up at the mage's feet, and another at the roof. Silvius was of course immediately thrown through the portal and landed flat on his face, as he fell suddenly from the roof.

"What the fuck?" Silvius said, as Zoe flew towards him a glowing blue knife outstretched.

"Well, it seems like you're now worth more to us dead..." She sighed as she came in with her knife. Silvius instinctively detached his torso the stabbing motion was met with nothing but air, and yet the knife itself caused a bit of strain, as it seemed to suck magic towards itself.

Panicking, Silvius re-assembled his body, and gasped. "W-what kind of knife is that?"

"It's called a sponge knife," Zoe explained, as she brandished it again. "It sucks up magic anywhere I stick it."

Silvius sighed. "Of course it does," He muttered as Zoe rushed back towards the door, leaving him bewildered.

Damon opened up another portal, in Zoe's path, as she entered the portal, and flying out of the car's other end. Silvius turned around, detached his hands, and braced for impact.

"Let's see you live through this!" She shouted, as Silvius' hands flew outward, fists clenched, and hit the young woman in the face and stomach. It didn't stop her, but her angle changed, the knife stabbed his arm. The gash was bad, but he could fight it now. Zoe quickly fell back, as Damon opened up the portal again.

The mage looked over to the other side of the car. Sure enough, another portal had opened up. "Gotcha," Silvius thought, as he kicked out wildly, and detached his foot, flying into the portal at high velocity. Before Damon could react, a certain foot beaned him in the back of the head, and collapsed, causing Zoe to trip over his body.

Damon awoke in a daze. "How did you break our combination?" He demanded.

"Simple. I noticed that your magic was fairly rudimentary, you still needed to open up two portals in line with each other, all it took was getting you to put yourself in between two, after that, it was just a matter of being fast enough," Silvius laughed. "Honestly, you're kind of an idiot, have you even fought a real guild mage before?"

The two of them looked away, embarrassed.


"Well, these two goofs though they could get away with nicking human beings!" The benefactor said to the border agent with a laugh.

"Well I can see the violation here, slave trading is only legal within Bosco..." the agent agreed. "Foreign slaves do fetch a pretty penny though, I'm not surprised that people try, isn't the first time I've seen it..."

"Well, another day has been saved!" The benefactor declared with a laugh, as he motioned to Silvius. "Now you, young man, are a fine fellow, congratulations."

"Thank you, uh..."

"Barrelbinder, CC Barrelbinder," the man said, as he extended a bag full of Jewels to the guild mage.

"Thanks, CC," Silvius sighed, still a bit unnerved by just how strange the man was.

"Hey, don't spend all of that in one place, even at your local haberdashery!" CC laughed. "And remember, stay street smart!"

Silvius stifled a laugh as he turned around, to find a train bound once again for Estrecho.


Great Fiore Desert, 2:30 PM.

"How do you know this thing is solar powered?" Cal asked, as the beast began to emerge from the mirage. It was a spiny creature, with an armored head, spine ridges protruding from its back, and yellow scales.

"I'm a solar mage," Lunick panted, hiding behind the tall man. "I hit him, and he just got faster and stronger.

"Great..." Cal sighed. Was this kid going to be any help at all? It wasn't like he had the time to judge though, there was a certain charging wild beast at his doorstep, so to speak. As such, he activated a magic circle and took on a fighting stance. "Kid, keep him distracted, I'll get him out cold," the singing mage promised, as he requipped an electric guitar, strummed a few chords, and opened his mouth, wide. "Song of suffering!"

At that moment, Lunick burst out from behind Cal, a bright aura seeming to form around him as he stepped out of a shadow and into the sun. He raced past the beast, and heard Cal's song begin...

Like a dagger drawn across my chest,
Shoots a bullet in Russian roulette,
You said you'd never turn your back on me,
Rescue me, rescue me,
Would you stand by me and bury me?
Bury me,

Lunick picked up the largest cactus he saw, the sun giving him strength as well, and threw it at the beast. The green missile hit home... And was promptly crushed by the beast's armor. Got its attention though

Cal briefly paused his song. "Oi, keep him in my line of sight, won't work otherwise!" He shouted out, as the beast began to chase Lunick Cheaper into the desert.

"Have it your way," Lunick agreed, as he seemed to disappear, and suddenly reappear behind the beast. "Hey! Ugly!"

The beast chased after 'Lunick' again, and seemed to crush him underfoot, but just as the foot came down, the illusion disappeared, and Lunick distorted back into focus.

Why don't we end this lie,
I can't pretend this time,
I need a friend to find my broken mind,
Before it falls to pieces!

"Pretty cool, huh?" Lunick laughed, as he gave Cal a "thumbs up," gesture.

"Head in the game kid," Cal demanded, as he pointed to the beast turning around once again.

Every time you try to leave me blind,
You'll never close my eyes,
You'll never close my eyes and watch me die!

"Luminous Spark!" Lunick Declared, as he fired a flashbang from his hand.. the beast seemed to be getting stronger, but was blinded in the same exchange. Exactly what Lunick was after. He took advantage of the split second, and uppercut the beast's underbelly. The lizard staggered, and stayed in place, with Lunick out of its line of sight, began to rely more on its other senses.

And when she spins the bottle round and round,
Every time it leaves me kept and bound,
You said you'd never turn your back on me,
Rescue me, rescue me,
Would you stand by me and bury me?
Bury me,
Why don't we end this lie,
I can't pretend this time,
I need a friend to find my broken mind,
Before it falls to pieces!

At this point, the beast seemed to be more energetic. Despite Lunick's efforts, it was a losing battle. The light gave it all the power it needed, and it seemed to only be a matter of time before the mage was crushed.

End this lie I cant pretend,
This time I need a friend to find my broken mind,
Before it falls to pieces,
Every time you try to leave me blind,
You'll never close my eyes,
You'll never close my eyes and watch me die!

Misery won't get the best of me,
Cause now I'm calling, yes I'm calling on your bluff!

Misery won't get the best of me,
Cause now I'm calling, yes I'm calling on your bluff!

Don't tell your lies I've had enough!

Why don't we end this lie,
I can't pretend this time,
I need a friend to find my broken mind,
Before it falls to pieces,
Every time you try to leave me blind,
You'll never close my eyes,
You'll never close my eyes and watch me die,

End this lie I cant pretend,
This time I need a friend to find my broken mind,
Before it falls to pieces!

Every time you try to leave me blind,
You'll never close my eyes,
You'll never close my eyes and watch me die!

Cal, seeing this, rushed to finish the song, as Lunick dodged the hulking beast. Seemingly on cue, the sand lizard collapsed, writing in pain. "Now to end this," Cal muttered, as Lunick finally stopped, panting. The boy collapsed on the sand.

"You all right kid?" Cal asked, seeing the limber youth suddenly sprawled on the ground.

"Yeah, just lazy..." Lunick laughed. "You killed that thing, right?"

"Not quite, just put it in pain. I'm lucky it landed on its stomach," Cal sighed, as he started tuning his guitar again, playing a different set of chords. "Summoner's Blade, Harmony," He muttered, before breaking into song once more.

Howling in mist beyond awake
Cast out the bliss over my grave
Fountain of youth you'll never taste
Wolf claw a bitch criminal grace

Higher in order to claim our prize
Under the ether we lived fought and died
Lightning below the ground patterns of all trinities
You'll remember your God's true name

Lucifer's Hammer lights up the dark
Covering the blackness there with white
Lucifer's Hammer lights up the dark
Coloring the blackness where we lie

Discordant myths you call your own
Commanding a view of Heaven's new throne
Prowling the dark plagues of desire
Prey on the weak wound driven choir

Flowers of evil your bread cross and wine
Plunder the ether to bring forth divine
Lightning above the ground talons of cold misery
You'll remember your God's true name

Lucifer's Hammer lights up the dark
Covering the blackness there with white
Lucifer's Hammer lights up the dark
Coloring the blackness where we lie

Amen
Demonize
Green words
Tranquilize
Gravity
Or perfumed skies

Wondering who mates above
Hollow eyes condemned by love
It's no surprise when I appear
Bill in hand profane austere

Lightning above the ground saddest of all trinities
You'll remember your God's true name

Lucifer's Hammer lights up the dark
Covering the blackness there with white
Lucifer's Hammer lights up the dark
Coloring the blackness where we lie.

After completing the song, the guitar itself seemed to develop a shell around itself, and formed into a sword. Cal casually strolled over to the lizard and stabbed at its heart. The beast fell, dead.

"Why were you trying to fight that thing, kid?" Cal asked, genuinely confused as to what he could benefit from this affair.

"Well I heard that species' eggs were really tasty, and I wanted to see for myself..." began Lunick.

"Say no more! That's pretty far out there," Cal laughed.

Lunick stood up. "Well you're pretty cool too, you in a guild?"

"Yep, just joined Phoenix Gear a few weeks ago, he said, pointing to the symbol, a phoenix's head with half a gear protruding from it, on his tank top.

"Cool. You taking new recruits?" The youth asked.

"Yeah, our new guild master put out an open request for new members, you looking for something different?"

"Well I guess so, I've kind of been in treasure hunting for a while, and I'm interesting in changing careers..." Lunick said, his gaze shifting around.

"Seems as good a reason as any!" Cal declared, seeming to miss the unease.

"Great, I'll need to say a few goodbyes first though..." Cal muttered, seeing his chance, but with a twinge of regret.

"It seems like you're hesitant," Cal said.

"Well they took me in, and they taught me a few tricks. I ought to at least say thank you," Lunick said, trying to play things cool.


"Who are you?" The leader asked Elya, as she rose from her squat.

"No one..." Elya muttered, embarrassed above anything else.

"I doubt that. What is your purpose in being here?"

"Weeeeeeelll... I kind of need a map I thought you might have and-"

"Sorry," the leader said as he and his compatriots drew swords, "we have our own use for it."

Elya's resolve only increased with that statement, and the jewel on her necklace began to glow. It quickly stopped, and a strange spider appeared on her shoulder. It was small, at only one inch, but she seemed confident. "Not my first choice, but Junn, go," she commanded, as the spider shrank to a quarter inch and scurried off away from both Elya and the bandits, who quickly converged on their target.

Elya went low, ducking under their swords, and smiling slightly as a small spider began navigating the web of legs around her and her spell. Junn jumped from assailant to assailant, and Elya, with a final jump back, took time to admire her own handiwork.

"What the- it hurts!" One of them shouted, clutching his leg.

"The hell did you do to us?" Another demanded, the pain turning to numbness.

"Well, let's just say I gave you a bit of a family heirloom," Elya muttered, as she began walking towards the desert, only to find her field of vision, along with everything behind her replaced by pure white, also catching a certain musician and a certain light mage.

"What's this about then?" Cal muttered, as the haze covered them as soon as the forest began.

"I recognize it. One of my mentors uses this type of magic, I think he calls it smokescreen magic," Lunick explained.

One of the bandits hobbled to his feet, and ran at Elya, who managed to hear his footsteps, and sidestep him. Another rose, this time Elya wasn't so lucky. The blade grazed her face.

"I have her!" the second assailiant asked, as Elya saw a red magic circle with a downward facing triangle, with a line through it in the center.

All of the sudden, the other bandits managed to converge on Elya's position, and in the same moment, Lunick and Cal came upon thier backs.

"Hey guys! I'm back! No eggs, but I met a friend!" Lunick shouted out

"Can you come back? We're in the middle of something..." One of the bandits sighed.

Elya was able to make out Cal's outline, and in the brief moment of distraction, she ran behind the two mages.

"Hey! Get back here!" The lead bandit demanded, as he ran up to the trio, but hobbled in the past few steps and fell on his face. In the same moment, he called off his spell, exposing the forest around them.

"What's this about?" Cal demanded.

"We're ah- treasure hunters, that woman just attacked us and-"

"You're thieves, and I just happened to be stealing back a valuable map." Elya shot back.

"Lunick, you weren't meant to see this..." The leader sighed.

"I knew," he muttered. It wasn't like all the secrecy didn't make it obvious, plus, if we were part of a legal guild, why would we keep our presence so secret, and why wouldn't we display our symbol proudly?" He muttered, as he took out a handkerchief from his vest pocket. On it was a symbol of a hand with an eye on its palm.

The bandits sighed, all toppled on the floor. "We didn't want you involved in this, but it was inevitable, it was our living,"

Lunick smiled. "I'm not mad. How could I be. You did this for me, now, I'll help you get out of it. Make some money, and we'll be back," he agreed.

"Thank you. We're very proud of you," the leader sighed, as Elya ran into the house and recovered the map.

"Some extra money," she explained, as the three made their way through the forest, back to Estrecho.


IAR Borderlands, 4PM.

"It's been three hours..." Esie moaned, as he stretched his wings from the rocky perch that he and Hazel had found for surveilance.

"Get down!" Hazel demanded, as she pulled her younger compatriot down into the saftey of the rock formation.

"HEY!" Esie shouted.

"What is your problem?" Hazel demanded, pivoting and positioning herself above Esie, the latter, cowering in fear.

"We've been waiting here all day..." Esie sobbed.

Hazel sighed, she supposed that Phoenix Gear had to have been a bit desperate to have someone like him on. Perhaps this was the time to learn more...

"So, what was Ella like?" Hazel asked, trying to get a feel for the entire situation.

"She was the best. She took me in... I loved her." Esie said, as he punched the dirt below them.

"And that's why you're suspicious of Margaret?"

"Well, I guess so..." He sighed.

Hazel sort of assumed that this was a bit higher minded. It seemed instead that, in spite of everything else, he was still mourning a mother figure. She couldn't exactly fault him for it, and yet, moving forward in spite of it was all that she could encourage, especially as she saw a duo of individuals matching the job's description walking a mere fifty feet from their position.

"It's go time!" Hazel shouted, as she slid down the hillside and squared off against the duo. Esie looked up, paralyzed, and thinking about the past once again.


Flashback: 3 Years ago.

The young boy awoke with a jolt. Around him were a few figures, an old woman in a nice coat, a younger guy with scars, and a casually dressed woman. Standing behind them was a middle-aged woman with a poncho, a white hat, and a pair of white denim jeans.

"AH! Get me out of here!" Esie shouted, as his wings began beating, faster than usual, and he attempted to take off. He jumped off the table, which had been repurposed as a makeshift bed, and landed somewhat hard on his foot. "AHHHHHHHH!" He screamed, even louder than before.

"Ink make brace..." the middle-aged woman sighed, as she wove a cast out of ink, seemingly directly on Esie's foot. This seemed to calm the boy down.

"Who are you people?" Esie asked, as he he looked around the guild hall for the first time.

"We're Phoenix Gear, a mage guild," Ella explained with a warm smile. "From what we can tell, you seem to need a new place to stay."

"Yeah, more or less," Esie sighed, as he struggled to get up from the floor.

"How about this, we'll take you in until you're feeling better, and from there it's up to you," Ella said, as she picked him up and carried him to a side room, possibly an infirmary.

"All right, fine."


Back in the present...

"Head in the game dude!" Hazel shouted, as she summoned her mace, and charged at the two travelers. Esie could see that both were young women in their late teens. One had platinum blonde hair in a pony tail, and steel blue eyes. She was ready for battle, dressed in leather armor over a cream tunic and light brown pants. Her appearance seemed lively, almost as though she was more prepared to enjoy this affair, regardless of the risk involved. The other was much less assuming, dressed in a purple shirt and jeans, with a thick nest of black hair, long and unkempt. She was shorter than her baleful companion, who stood around as tall as Esie, but her skin was just as pale. Hazel had begun to confront them, and Esie entered a slow descent, to better observe the proceedings.

"I keep telling you! She's supposed to be carrying a message between guilds in the New Balam Alliance," Hazel yelled, the other woman seemingly standoffish about the prospect.

"Rosalie couldn't be, she's just trying to get to her new job in the Autonomous region!" the other figure protested, edging closer to Hazel and using her height to her advantage.

At this point, Rosalie was looking ahead, more flabbergasted than afraid.

"What's this then?" Hazel demanded, as she examined the mission. "Quid ad Magistocracy Venturam?"

Rosalie's eyes glassed over, and she spoke. "Magistocracy Valitque ea-"

"I rest my case," Hazel cut the seemingly brainwashed woman off, as she continued to stare. "Apparently, dark guilds are using this now, secure communication. Kidnap, program a message, and then they kill the victim," she read off from the job posting.

The tall woman stopped for a second. "What can we do then?" She asked.

"Take her to the Rune Knights, hopefully they can extract the programming," Hazel finished.

"All right, we'll work together, take on anything that comes our way until then," the woman agreed. "But in exchange, I get half whatever they're paying you."

"And if I refuse?"

The woman paused, realizing that she didn't quite hold the cards here, and quickly thought of a better explanation, fully aware that the woman before her would certainly attack if she didn't come up with something and quickly, the fact that she wouldn't have to was both a blessing and a curse.

As the standoff continued, a short man with wings not unlike Esie's-though they were pure white, more like that of a dove than a falcon-descended onto the scene. His hair was lavender, long and in a pony tail, and was greasy, as it shone in the sun, and his eyes a sharply contrasting shade of gray. He was also dressed in pants that matched his hair and a simple white shirt, along with riding boots. "Ashelia, I see you have brought my old cousin," He said, motioning to the taller woman, whose mouth was now agape.

"Well, here's the thing..." Ashelia muttered, as she put herself in front of Rosalie.

"Oh, I see..." The man sighed, as he looked on Hazel and Esie. "Just give her over and we'll be done here."

"Not a chance!" Hazel declared as she formed her mace, and charged at the man.

"Stellar Angel's Shriek!" He declared, as he lauched a hot light forward from his mouth, enveloping all four of those in front of him.

The land around the quartet was scorched, and Hazel, Esie, Ashelia, and Rosalie were all singed. This power was more than enough for all of them, no doubt about that.

"Unfortunately, with this information, I don't think it's a particularly good idea to leave you all alive..." he sighed.


Crocus, Fiore, 2:30 PM.

"And how did this town get to being this way?" Zavid asked, as the two disembarked in the nation's capital.

"As far as anyone knows, it had to do with a dark guild that once resided there. Apparently some experiment with time magic led to it," Grace explained.

"Time magic?"

"Yes, I think some kind of time loop effect. As far as I know, the New Magic Council banned the magic used to make it around 15 years ago."

"Is that common, the council banning magic?" Zavid asked.

"Somewhat, it's happened a few times in my own memory. Athletic Magic, Black Arts, White Arts, Seith Magic, certain kinds of time magic, magic that enslaves its victims, there are quite a few banned these days," Grace recalled.

"I take it there was less of that in an earlier era?" Zavid asked.

"You never run out of questions, do you?" Grace sighed. "I'm not sure, but we have a few hours before our train is to leave. I'd suggest you get comfortable."

"All right, I'm going to go for a cigarette then..." The young man muttered, feeling the withdrawal.

Grace gave a slightly disappointed look, but walked over to the ticket both, leaving Zavid to find the exit.


Zavid took out his pack, and began searching for his lighter. It seemed he'd forgotten it. Just his luck. Zavid scanned the area for others, and saw only one, a woman in her early twenties. She was a tall woman, with dark and messy short hair, and bright green eyes. Her clothes seemed the tiniest bit too small for her, her gray, low-cut shirt and light blue pants were tight to her buxom frame. Only her brown combat boots fit correctly. She was also smoking a black paper cigarette alone several feet away from him. "Excuse me," he said, directly.

"What do you need, mister?" She asked, much more enthusiastically than Zavid was expecting.

"Just a light," Zavid explained.

"Sure thing," the woman agreed, as she took out her lighter. It was a zippo type, black, and with a mishappen skull with horns protruding from either side printed on one side of the lighter proper. from the magic circle that emerged when the woman sparked it, it looked to be magic based.

"Thank you," Zavid said, as his own cigarette came to life.

"Don't mention it. I can tell you're a mage, what's that like?" The woman asked.

"I'm that obvious huh?" Zavid laughed. "You must have a goood sense for magic."

"More that you have a guild mark," the woman said, pointing to it.

"Oh, right, that, well, I'm a bit new to the life, I spent some time as a mercenary before," Zavid explained.

"How does it compare?"

"Well I guess it's a little bit safer, but a lot stranger. You could usually get a simple cause and effect as a mercenary. Find the enemy and kill them, that kind of thing. A guild mage is a different life, a bit more variety. I'm never quite sure what I'm up against. Apparently I'm supposed to fight a time loop next," Zavid said, laughing a bit at the last point.

The woman inhaled deeply from her cigarette. "Well, that sounds good right now. I'm trying to get my mind off of things."

"So do you plan to join one?"

"Something like that, I'm not much of a mage at this point though, I feel like I need to find a bit more experience first," she explained.

"What's your name?" Zavid asked, hoping to establish a bit of familiarity through the pitch.

"Erika, Erika Keltser."

"Zavid Stryder, and Erika, have you considered joining Phoenix Gear?" He asked.

Erika shrugged. "Can't say I've heard of it," She said.

"It's my guild, our new master is taking anyone who can so much as cast a spell, go to the town of Estrecho if you're interested," Zavid explained.

"I'll think about it," Erika sighed, as she stamped the ash from her exhausted cigarette and walked into the station. Zavid soon followed suit, and met Grace in seconds flat.

"Our tickets are secured, now we wait," Grace said, as the two found a bench. Out of the corner of Zavid's eye, he saw Erika at the ticket booth.

"Which line takes you to Estrecho?" She asked the attendant.


Esie was panicked. There was no way that they could beat this guy. He managed to almost KO all of the mages against him in seconds, and there would be no way that this was going to end well for them. To make matters worse, dark clouds seemed to be gathering in the distance. Flying would only be harder, and escape less likely. In a split second, he decided that now was the time to run. He darted back, grabbed Rosalie, and flew off.

"Hm, trying to leave, are we..." The man sighed, as he immediately took off after Esie.

"I don't suppose you can ground him?" Asked Hazel.

"Actually, I can!" Ashelia declared, as she adopted an odd pose and a green magic circle appeared under her. "Cyclone!" She declared, as her own arms turned into wings, which she used and the space around them turned to spinning air, with them in the proverbial eye of the storm. both flying figures began to struggle as the air itself pushed against them, and both landed, and yet something was out of place.

"Steller Angel's Wrath!" The man declared, a small flash of light occured, but fizzled out as quickly as it emerged. Both he and Esie seemed to be covered in what appeared to be ash, and strangely, it seemed to be limiting the man's power.

Hazel figured they had about thirty seconds before the man figured out how to get his power back. Taking advantage of his confusion, she swung at his head with her mace, and knocked him out, though the strain of this situation had made her forced to lean on her own mace.

"All right, let's get Rosalie out of here before he wakes up..." Ashelia sighed, knowing full well staying near that psychopath could only end in disaster.


Phoenix Gear Guild Master's quarters, 4:10 PM.

"Meat pie?" Adenna asked, as Margaret rolled out the dough.

"Do that not have that in Minstrel?" She asked, the concept seeming foreign.

"Not that I know of, I only ate things like apples and peaches in pies," Adenna explained, as she looked at the brewing storm outside of the house's window.

"Well I suppose there's a first time for everything," Margaret laughed, as she took the steak out of her oven.

"You cook the meat twice?"

"My own recipie does that, yes, keeps things a bit less messy, and preserves some more of the flavor of the beef. The trick is making it rare first, and cooking it to medium rare the second time," Margaret explained as she threw onions, greens, and gracy into the crust alongside the beef. Hopefully some of our mages will be back soon, though if I had to spend the day with anyone here, I'd choose you every time..."

That comment affected Adenna more than she was prepared to accept. The stuck-up, impatient, and accusatory master was hardly someone she could ever think of as warm, and here she was, desperate to please the S-Class Mage. There was something about her earnestness, something genuinely conflicted in her soul, in spite of Margaret's abrasive attitude, there was something to love in there. She had to stick around and find out, there was no doubt about that. All she could do now though, was joke about it. "You sure you don't want to learn more about Grace?" She quipped, earning a hearty laugh from Margaret as the latter set up the oven, and gave a cursory glance outside. Was that ash falling from the sky?

"Adenna, you ought to see this..." Margaret said, motioning the taller woman to the window.


IAR Borderlands, 4:15 PM

"This is Altair, come in master..." The short man sighed, from a convenient cave.

"What news do you bring, Altair?" A voice from the other end of the pocket-sized lacrima demanded.

"Rosalie escaped, the idiot we hired got set straight. Legal guild," Altair explained.

"Damn! Do we know of the guild?"

"Judging by the proximity, the most likely candidate is Phoenix Gear," the angel slayer responded, brushing the last of the snow off of him and feeling his magical energy boosted as he did so.

"Phoenix Gear? There's no way..." The voice on the other end muttered. "I suppose though that we should stay on alert. We already have an affiliate in the area, and a certain project available to them. Go there, and take over."

"Understood master," Altair signed off. "Right after this is over," he sighed as he stared at the black snowstorm outside.


Outside Estrecho train station, 4:20 PM

"Just my luck," Silvius sighed, as the back of money spilled out on the floor in front of him. He detached his hand, and set about sweeping up the cash. It was the work of a moment, and, gripping the re-sealed bag with his free hand, called the detached hand back to him. As it reattached, a snowflake fell on it, and his wrist bled slightly. "What the hell?" Silvius muttered.


Erika walked away from the same train, and at first noticed that the temperature was oddly cold, something that should not logically have been the case, and that the dark clouds seemed to be disseminating snow. What made this truly strange though was the fact that in the same moment, her own skin began to exude heat, as though she was intensely nervous. Though she felt incredibly calm. On top of all this, she felt almost compelled to take out her lighter. She sparked it again, and though it seemed to be weakened by the snow, it still flickered. Erika wasn't sure why, but something told her she should eat the fire. "What the hell?" She thought aloud.


A/N: Amazingly, this still isn't all of what I had planned for Chapter 3 (more like 90% of it), and I have yet another announcement to make! From this chapter forward, I'm going to start making a "create an OC contest." Submit an OC with the parameters I give out in the Author's note, and win a prize in story along with your character appearing! The runner up will also get something every update, here are the additional rules. Also! For those curious, the songs Cal sang in this chapter were This Suffering, by Billy Talent, and Lucifer's Hammer, by Virgin Steele.

1. The normal rules apply, unless I suspend a rule for the contest.

2. The character must comply with the specifications I lay out.

3. This is competitive, meaning that only the best OCs will be accepted for the contest.

4. Please include "contest entry" in the PM's subject line.

5. The winner will be decided shortly before the next update, and announced in the end note of the next update.

The first contest: Create an OC who will be found in the town that Zavid and Grace will be visiting. The OC must be fairly young, a mage, and their character and backstory must deal with time displacement, either from the past or from the future. The winner's OC will join the guild.

With all of that said, Until Next Time!

Altair Seraphim created by Pine Swiftwings

Erika Keltser created by Dogtimus

Ashelia Faradrim created by ShadowWolf223