A/N: Well that was quick, wasn't it?

I don't own Fairy Tail!

I hope you enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 3: Morning Traditions

May 5th, X784

Evening had come as the moon raised up high into the night sky, crickets chirping in the late spring night in the forest all around them. It had been a long day for Iva and seeing the moon again felt like a sweet relief. And while she would rather be along right now, she was glad to have a bit of company in Raoul as he showed her around the guildhall.

"You think you've got the gist of it then?" the man asked, a dim lantern lighting up one side of his face as they stepped out into the eastern styled garden that sat in the courtyard in the middle of the guildhall.

"I think so," Iva nodded, "It's much smaller than the main branch. And the Encan designs all around the guildhall are a nice touch."

"You think so? Yeah, I really like the ambiance of the place. Got the local construction company to thank for that, even if that ass in charge has it out for me," Raoul said happily, mumbling the last part, "Lots of people really like this garden here. It's a nice quiet place to relax in," he continued as he watched Iva walk over to a nearby tree before pulling a branch down and chomping down on it.

"The trees taste good too," Iva mumbled while chewing on the tree branch in her mouth.

"I guess I shouldn't be surprise to see that, but I am," Raoul sighed, "Plant Dragon Slayer and all that."

"Some taste better than others," Iva muttered, "These cherry trees have been well cared for and the taste proves it," she explained while walking over to a small pond surrounded by rocks, the moonlight reflecting in the shallow pool while several koi fish swam about, Iva scowling at her own reflection before stepping away.

"I guess all that's left to show you is your room then," Raoul said before heading towards a gate on the right side of the pond, Iva following him out of the garden and into a long wooden hallway that seemed to wrap around three sides of the courtyard if what she saw from there was any indication. They eventually came to a room in the back right corner of the hallway that Raoul unlocked with a key before tossing it to Iva before stepping inside.

"Sorry it's so bare right now, but you've got a bed and a desk at least," Raoul stated as Iva stepped inside, "Oh, the doc also dropped your duffle bag off here earlier," he added, gesturing towards her bag laying on top of her bed.

Iva took a look around, seeing the bed in one corner and the desk in the other, but also took notice of an empty bookshelf, a dresser and what she assumed were doors to a bathroom and a closet.

"Does everyone have a room like this?" she asked as she stepped past Raoul.

"Not everyone," Raoul shrugged, "There's an odd hundred mages at this branch right now and we only have so much room. Anyone new in town or too young to own their own apartment or whatever get to stay here. You won't be short on neighbors though."

"I can imagine," Iva sighed before sitting down on her new bed.

"Hey kid," Raoul said quietly, drawing Iva's attention to him, "Look… I ain't the best at this crap and I know Nika was really hard on you today, but I just want to let you know… You ain't alone in this. You ain't the only one here trying to claw their way back to the main branch and Nika, she just wants what's best for you, that's all."

"She has an odd way of showing it."

"I know, but that's just how she is. She's tough on everyone like that. She does it cause she cares. If she didn't, well, you'd've heard from Jose by now," Raoul explained before stepping in front of Iva, "The point is, she cares enough to scold ya, to make you think about your actions, to make you think about how you could've been and done things better. She does it because she wishes she had someone to tell her the same things a few years ago."

"I understand," Iva sighed, an odd feeling welling up in her chest. Was she sad? Touched? She couldn't quite tell as Raoul continued on.

"I hope you do, cause a lot of people hear a shtick like that from Nika and come to resent her for it when she really does just want what's best for everyone here," Raoul added before walking over to the door, "I just really wanna make sure you know that she acts like that because she cares. All right? Now you should get to bed and focus on healing up," Raoul said in closing before stepping out of the room and shutting the door behind him.

Iva let out another sigh before standing up from her bed and peeling off her black hoodie and green crop top. Replacing them with a long sleeved shirt and her boots, stockings and shorts with a pair of black pajama pants and climbing into bed as she turned the light off with her magic, the young girl staring up at her new ceiling in the darkness as she tried to let sleep take her, but she couldn't. She just laid there and stared at the ceiling while her thoughts ran around in her head a mile a minute.

"Fucking hell," she cursed before standing back up and grabbing her hoodie off of the floor putting it back on and stomping back out of her room, though she would make sure to close the door quietly behind her and lock it with her key before stuffing it into her hoodie's pocket. From there she would quietly make her way back to the garden, stepping out into the moonlit landscape and feeling a satisfying feeling in between her toes as she walked out onto the grass and began to just walk around the garden, taking in the sights. She soon felt a frown cross her face though as an old memory crept into her mind, a flash of a large dragon, covered in bark and moss and trees.

"Tch… Asshole," she mumbled as she tried as hard as she could to push those memories away again, "Thinking about him ain't gonna bring him back… He's dead."

"Who's dead?" she heard a soft voice ask from behind her, startling her as she quickly turned around as her dragon scales appeared all across her body.

"Oh my… Did I startle you?" the voice, who was revealed to be a woman wearing a long-sleeved green dress and was dressed up rather like a gardener, with heavy boots, gloves and a kerchief wrapped around the top of her head.

"A gardener?" Iva questioned as her scales vanished as quickly as they appeared.

"Something of the sort," the woman replied, smiling softly at Iva as she gave a short curtsy, "My name is Elizaveta, but you can just call me Izzy if you'd like. I'm a member of the guild, like you."

"Iva," the dragon slayer responded in turn, taken aback by the sudden display of manners she had yet to really see at the Jaborosa Branch.

"Oh! You're the new girl, aren't you?" Izzy asked as she turned around and walked over to a wooden bench that sat in front of a small stream that fed into the pond on the other side of the courtyard before patting next to herself, as if she was inviting Iva to sit next to her.

"I wouldn't say I'm new to Phantom Lord," Iva growled, crossing her arms and remaining where she was as Izzy let out a sigh.

"I know, but you're new to us here at Jaborosa," Izzy replied as she looked at Iva, still wearing a warm smile on her face, "Now, what troubles you so much that you're up so late at night?"

"I think it'd be obvious since it's all that anyone has wanted to say to me since I got here," Iva snapped before spotting a fallen tree branch on the ground and walking over to so she could pick it up.

"Is that all that's bothering you though? You mentioned something else earlier, when you were talking to yourself," the other woman pointed out as Iva took a bite out of the stick and began chewing angrily.

"None of your business," Iva growled as a memories of the dragon flashed through her mind yet again, "Dammit, this is why I avoid nice places," she huffed as she angrily threw what was left of the stick, "And quit bringing it up!" Iva shouted at Izzy, who could only wear a bit of a guilty look on her face in response.

"I apologize. I was nosy and I shouldn't have been," Izzy said softly as she looked down at the stream in front of her.

"Yeah… Well… Tch… Whatever," Iva mumbled, not quite used to people not snapping back at her, "Just… Don't bring it up again," she stated before walking towards the entrance near the pond she had come in from.

"Oh, Iva," Izzy called out before she had left, Iva stopping for just a moment in the threshold, "Welcome to Jabarosa Town."

Iva held still for just a little longer, guilt weighing down on her for just a moment before she clicked her tongue in agitation, "Whatever. I'm going to bed," she said before leaving the courtyard, and Izzy, behind for the night.

. : + : .

May 6th, X784

The sun rose over the Phantom Lord Branch in Jaborosa Town as Raoul leaned back in his old wooden chair, his feet resting up on a banister in front of him as he chewed on a toothpick, as was his morning tradition. He had a warm cup of coffee on a small table next to him and for all he knew, all was right with the world. Though in reality, he was blissfully unaware of a small figure stalking him from the shadows, inching closer and closer to him as quiet as a mouse.

It was only when he heard the wooden floorboards of the porch squeak that he opened his eyes, but he saw nothing when he looked to the right and to the left, so he put it out of his mind and closed his eyes once more. Once the figure saw that his eyes were closed once more, they began their descent from their hiding place in the rafters of the overhang above Raoul. Closer and closer they came as they slowly climbed down the pillar behind Raoul in his chair.

Then, with her silver hair lit in the morning sunlight, her maroon eyes full of mischief as a large smile appeared on her face as she took a deep breath and let out a shout.

"Hi Raoul-sensei!" the young girl shouted as loud as she could, making Raoul leap from his chair and fall on the ground with a shout of his own. He quickly looked back and forth before flipping over onto his back, letting out a sigh as his eyes landed on his and Nika's young student, a ten year old girl named Miyako.

"Hiya Squirt," Raoul sighed as he climbed to his feet, "Ya got me good this time. How'd ya do it?"

"Azi gave me the idea!" Miyako said as she held out to pieces of metal in her hands, "I made them float while I held onto them!"

"Ah, that was smart of the Bookworm," Raoul replied, "Last time you tried to zip up with lightning and that didn't work so well, did it?"

"Nope! Roc-Roc had to come put out the fire!" Miyako laughed happily as another young girl approached the guild, "Azi!" Miyako shouted as she ran past Raoul and gave her friend a hug.

"We just saw each other five minutes ago, Miyako," the second girl muttered, an unamused look in her eyes.

"But I still missed you!" Miyako exclaimed as she continued to hug her friend.

"I thought I heard a familiar voice," they heard Nika say from the doorway, the three of them turning to look at her.

"Nika-sensei!" Miyako said happily as she ran to give her other teacher a hug, "I did it! I snuck up on Raoul-sensei!"

"Did you now? Did Azielle help?" Nika asked as she returned the young girl's hug.

"She did! She came up with the plan! She's so smart!" Miyako explained, still a bright ray of sunshine as a small blush appeared on Azielle's face.

"I'm sure it was a very good plan if it worked then," Nika said with a soft and warm smile on her face as Miyako let go of her as Nika kneeled down to be eye level with them, "Is your Archive Magic still coming along well then?"

"It is," Azielle answered as she held out her hand, a holographic magic display appearing in front of her, "I've got it all working now."

"That's great, Azi!" Nika exclaimed, "That's a very new kind of magic, so I'm impressed you've got it working so quickly," she said as Miyako gave her friend another hug in celebration.

"All those buttons really work then?" Raoul asked as he reached out to touch one, only to get his hand smacked away by Azielle.

"Don't touch buttons when you don't know what they do," she said as she scolded the man as her Archive disappeared.

"Yeesh, all right I won't, Bookworm," Raoul huffed as he shook his hand as if it was hurting before reaching over to his table to grab his coffee.

"Well then, why don't you two girls come inside and get a mug of hot chocolate before we start practice then?" Nika suggested as Miyako let out a celebratory 'Yeah', "Dr. Darling is here early today with Delia even, so he can make it just the way you two like it," she added as the three girls went inside, a smile on Raoul's face as he watched the scene before standing up and following them inside.

. : + : .

The early morning sun was blotted out by a dense fog as three figures walked through an ancient graveyard, the mist parting and jutting away as they took each step, their boots slightly sinking into the mud as if the earth itself was trying to swallow them whole for trespassing in that ancient place.

"If I had known you were going to drag us to a place like this, I would have never of agreed to come along," one of the figures complained as they tried to step over a rather large puddle of mud, "I'll have to burn this suit when I get back to Jaborosa."

"I told you to wear something you could get dirty, JV," the leading figure stated in a matter of fact manner, "Nothing clean happens when you go looking for the dead."

"I figured you just meant that for the fighting, not that we'd be traipsing through a god forsaken swamp," JV complained as he stepped over yet another large puddle.

"Stop complaining," the third, and largest figure in the group demanded, his face obscured by mist and the shadows provided by his black, wide brimmed hat, "You should listen to Irma when she speaks about the dead."

"Thank you, Kord," Irma said as the three of them neared a large monolith made of a bright and shining marble.

"How is this thing so clean?" JV wondered aloud, as he broke from the line they were walking in to look at the other sides of it while Irma quickly approached it with her hand out in front of her.

Kord merely watched from where he was as Irma and JV inspected the monolith until he saw several markings across Irma's body glow green, even JV stopping to peer at her from around the corner of the monolith.

"This is it… This is what we came for," Irma muttered as she reached her hand out to touch the monolith, the structure glowing green in the same, bizarre lines and wedge shapes as the markings on her body before it began to rumble and move back towards JV, who quickly stepped out of the way as the monolith finished moving to reveal a staircase, Irma not waiting a moment to start her descent, JV quickly following her down while Kord waited for just a moment before descending down himself.

"So what are we looking for down here?" JV asked as things around them grew darker and darker, the only light source being the glowing marks on Irma's body

"A spirit. A poor lost soul that it's way and descended into madness," Irma stated calmly as she continued her explanation, "I believe it was an ancient sorcerer, one feared by many. He was denied his last rights by those around him after his death and he couldn't find his way to the next life, so he was sealed away long ago to protect the living."

"So why do you need Kord and I then? This is entirely your shtick," JV asked as they reached the bottom of the staircase and began to hear the shuffling of footsteps.

"You I brought to help banish the spirit," Irma answered as the shuffling grew closer, drawn in by the noise of their speech, "I brought Kord… for those," she stated as she pointed towards a shambling corpse that came into the light, letting out a long moan as it drew closer while Kord stepped between the two of them as crystals enveloped his fists.

"Crystal Body Magic… Blades," he growled as two long blades sprouted from the crystal gauntlets covering his fists before darting towards the first target and slamming his fist into it, splattering it all over the nearby wall.

"They're no match for him, as I thought," Irma said as she watched him take out a second zombie and then a third barely even a second later, "Take point Kord, JV and I will follow behind," she ordered as Kord did just as she asked, taking the lead and punishing any opponent that dared to come near them from the front.

"So was this guy a necromancer or something?" JV asked as he watched yet another zombie get flattened against wall, "Cause he seems like he would've been a rather terrible one if this is all he could muster."

"I don't believe so. This is just the effect his spirit has had on this crypt since being sealed inside," Irma answered before a pale, green fire appeared on her arm, "Jori," she muttered before an indistinct spirit made of green light and white mist appeared next to her, further lighting up the crypt.

"Looks like your friend is waking up more of the crypt," JV scoffed as they were suddenly exposed to many more zombies who could now see them and were now making their way towards them.

"That was the plan," Irma huffed as she spun her right hand around in the air, signaling for Jori to fly towards the zombies on their side flanks and setting them alight with green fire, "Kord, keep clearing us a path, we're getting closer to the sorcerer's tomb."

"Gotcha," Kord muttered as he took out another zombie, "Lots more to do up here all of a sudden though," he said as a large crowd of zombies began to gather in front of them, "When I say run, we all run forward, got it?" he asked, briefly looking back to see the both of them nod before he wound up a haymaker, "Crystal Nail Gun!" he shouted as several crystal shards shot forth from his gauntlet, flying and cutting their way through dozens of zombies and clearing a path, "Run!" he ordered as the trio began running their way through the path until they reached a large stone door, Kord winding up as he approached it and slamming into it with a crystal encased fist, causing the doors to fly off their hinges before Irma and JV ran past Kord, "I'll hold them here! You two go do what you need to!"

"We're right where we need to be," Irma said as they came to a stop in the chamber, JV taking a moment to catch his breath before he heard a loud groaning as he felt something fly past him, his head whipping around to see a faint, red mist before a rotted, ethereal face slowly peered down at him from above, letting out a horrifying screech before flying straight through JV and filling him with an overwhelming sense of dread before he collapsed onto his knees, shivering from a sudden chill running down his spine.

"Jori! Intercept it!" Irma commanded as her spirit rushed to chase the red one away, bashing into it and darting up into the air as Irma rushed to JV's side and pulled him to his feet, "Are you all right?" she asked.

"I'm fine, more pissed than anything honestly," JV snarled as he reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a green and white key, "I just need you to keep it still for me for six seconds."

"Of course. Jori!" Irma called out as her spirit exploded into green flames, sending the red one crashing down into the ground before JV dashed towards it.

"Gate of the Gatekeeper: Thanatos! Open!" he roared as he held out the key, a large, winged skeletal figure appearing in the air above the red spirit before it reached down and grabbed a hold of it before tearing through it with its large scythe, tearing the red spirit in two and forcing it to move on from this world with a painful, agonizing scream that sent shivers down both JV and Irma's spines before Thanatos disappeared as well, JV collapsing to his knees once again.

"You got it," Irma confirmed as her markings disappeared, Jori still lighting up the room as Irma rushed to JV's side and pulled him up.

"Damn spirit takes so much magic," JV huffed as Irma draped his arm around her shoulder.

"Is it over?" they heard Kord ask from the entrance, "All of the zombies suddenly stopped moving, so I'm guessing you got it."

"Yeah, yeah. I got it," JV answered, still breathing heavily.

"Let's get out of here then," Kord suggested before turning and leaving the room, Irma and JV following behind as Jori lit the way.

Credits:

Elizaveta "Izzy" Hedeval – Elements08

Miyako Ranji – Dreadburner94

Azielle Morgan – MyDearWatson

Sowenna Irma Curnow – Paperman0

Jorgun "JV" Von Masters – Origm2012

Kord Riothorn – StormRider2.0

A/N: And I wrote that way quicker than I thought I would. Still, hope you enjoyed it.

The idea for the second half of the first scene actually came from Elements08, who wrote a skit of Izzy and Iva interacting in the garden at midnight. I liked the idea of it well enough to write my own take on it as an official part of the story. But if you want to see Elements08's version of it, be sure to check it out on the discord, it goes a whole lot differently than what I wrote.

But I do want to thank musicaldreams89, Joshua1277, Benthino, wjolix98, Grimnack, LunaRose2468, Origm2012, Carla the wizard, XLil MEkoX and MyDearWatson for the reviews! They are all appreciated!

Anyways, that's all for now. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone that celebrates it today!

Your host,

Dreadburner94.