A/N: Huzzah! Got the new chapter finished!

I don't own Fairy Tail!

Please enjoy!

Chapter 10: First Clue

April 7, X792 - Late Afternoon

"So wait…where are we going again?" Rio asked, looking at Nanami and Securus, who were currently leading the way through town.

"Just to a bar," Securus answered with a smirk.

"Somehow I don't fully believe that's all we're doing," Chris mumbled, "That smirk is a pretty sure sign that you have something else planned."

"Don't worry so much!" Tazz said, grinning from beside him, "Whatever they want us to do has to be way more fun than spending our time in town on the guild."

"It's not Lance's fault that he gets all queasy when he steps on land," Rio said, "But he should be just fine by the time we get to the bar. Right Lance?" he asked, looking back at the brunette who was currently being pulled across the ground by Rio by a rope tied to one of his legs.

"I still don't know why you had to bring me with you," Lance groaned, holding onto his stomach, "Three of you should have been enough to take care of whatever they need you to do."

"Suck it up, man," Rio said with a roll of his eyes, "You'll be fine soon."

"You two still haven't told us what you need help with anyways," Chris mentioned, ignoring Rio and Lance for the time being as he looked to the two S-Class mages in front of them.

"You heard about the treasure vault on the guild being empty, right?" Securus asked.

"Yeah," the other four answered.

"Well, we found a way to fill it back up for Cordelia-san," Nanami said, "But it is a little tricky at the moment."

"Tricky?" Chris asked.

"Have you all heard of Blackstroker?" Securus replied.

"Isn't he the dude that had a crap load of gold and hid it before he died?" Tazz answered.

"Always so eloquent, Tazz-san, but yes, he is," Nanami said, "We've gotten wind of the treasure map leading to his hoard being in town. But there is a small catch."

"Let me guess. Some else has the map already," Rio said.

"Yep. And we've managed to track down who has it already," Securus said, "But there were too many of them around for us to try to sneak in and grab it. So that's where you four come in. We need you to go into the bar where they're staying at and cause a distraction in order to give us an opening to steal the map."

"Stealing? Doesn't that seem like something we shouldn't be doing?" Chris asked.

"Not when it's from pirates," Securus answered, his smirk growing.

"PIRATES?!" the other four shouted.

"You afraid of them or something?" Securus asked, "I took you four as people who wouldn't step down from a challenge."

"We never said anything about being afraid of them!" Rio and Tazz shouted, "Show us where they're at and we'll take them out!"

"We don't need you taking anyone out," Nanami said, "Just cause enough of a ruckus for us to find the map and steal it from them."

"What if someone has the map on them and not in an empty room somewhere?" Chris asked.

"That's why I'm gonna scope the place out first and then we'll go from there," Securus said just as the group came to a stop across from a large bar and inn. The two S-Class mages made sure to keep everyone at a safe distance on the other side of the street from it while Securus used his magic to hunt the map down, "Hawk-Eye," he said in an even tone. Using his Marksman Magic, he sent magic into his right eye, making the golden orb appear to glow. The spell caused his eye to act like a scope, allowing him to zoom in through all the different windows. His eyes quickly scanned over the front of the bar, seeing many members of the pirate crew, but no signs of a map, "Stay here," was all he said to the group as he began walking towards the building. Although, he moved to one side of it and disappeared down an alley. The group waited just a few minutes before Securus appeared from the other side of the building with a smug smirk on his face.

"So? Did you find anything?" Chris asked.

"I know pirates aren't always the smartest people, but I figured they'd be a bit more cautious of a treasure map, especially one belonging to the infamous Blackstroker," he answered as he pulled out a cigarette from his coat.

"Is that a long ass way of saying yes?" Tazz questioned.

"Yes," he replied, "They left it in a room upstairs just sitting out in the open."

"So that means we get to be a distraction then?" Rio asked.

"Looks that way," Securus said, blowing out a stream of smoke.

"You four be careful though," Nanami added, "We don't know what the crew is like or what they're capable of."

"Don't worry about us," Rio smirked, "We can handle some stupid pirates. Not the first time I've had a run in with them."

"Still, if you get hurt, Cordelia-san will blame it on Securus-kun and I."

"You suddenly afraid of the new guild master?" Tazz asked with a grin, "And here I was thinking you were tougher than that, Shiraki."

"I'd suggest you four get moving before she decides to send you into another continuous loop," Securus said after noticing Nanami's annoyance.

"Tch," was all Tazz replied with before the group began making their way towards the bar, Rio still dragging Lance with them.

"Hard to believe that you're younger than her, Shiraki," Securus mentioned, looking over at the woman.

"That's only because Tazz-san lacks manners," Nanami answered, "Now, aren't you going to lead the way to the map?"

"Yeah, yeah," he answered, walking towards one of the alleyways with Nanami close behind him.

As the two disappeared to the back of the building, the other four had made their way to the doorway of the bar. Before Tazz or Chris could talk about what to do for a distraction, Rio decided to take the lead on things.

"Time to get up, lazy bones!" he shouted as he tossed Lance through the doors by the rope. The door busted open and Lance flew across the room into the bar area, knocking over liquor bottles in the process. The room went quiet for a moment, the pirates waiting to see what was going on with cautious eyes. Though, the silence didn't last for long when Lance popped up from his crash.

"What the hell?!" he shouted, jumping up onto the bar top, "What do you think you're doing?!"

"You were taking too long getting your land-legs, but you seem perfectly fine now," Rio answered with a smirk.

"So you throw me into a bar?!" Lance continued to shout, not taking note of the pirates around him until one attempted to approach him.

"Oi! Do you know what crew you've dropping into?!" a man shouted.

"Shut up!" Lance snapped.

"Excuse me?!"

"Stop interrupting!" Lance yelled as he threw a palm out towards the man, "Laser Make: Blast!" he announced, shooting out a medium sized, red orb at the man. It hit his target dead on, sending the man flying backwards into a wall. He slid to the floor, landing in a smoking heap. Things went quite after that and it was then that Lance looked around to see where they were at and all the pirates that now surrounded them.

"You come into my bar and blast one of my men?!" a large man with a thick, black coat shouted, "You're gonna live to regret it! Black Skulls! Attack!"

At the captain's command, the entire crew moved to attack the four mages.

"Ahhh yeah! We finally get some action around here!" Tazz yelled happily, fully prepared for the men that were running towards the doorway where she stood with Rio and Chris still, "You boys keep them busy for a moment while I analyze them."

"You got it," Chris and Rio answered, taking a step in front of her to block the pirates from reaching her.

"Hydropump!" Rio said as he threw out a palm. From his palm a pressurized water beam came forth, drenching the men coming at them and keeping them from moving forward, "Your turn, Chris!"

"Here we go!" Chris smirked as the yellow gem on his bracelet began to glow, "Elemental Fang Fist!" he shouted as a wolf's head made of lighting covered his right fist. He slammed the fist down onto the ground where the water started. The lightning quickly flowed throughout the water until it eventually reached the drenched pirates, electrocuting a good number of them. They all shouted in pain for a moment before they landed in large, smoking heaps on the floor.

"Looks like your Elemental Fists Magic still packs a punch," Rio said.

"Of course it does," Chris replied, "And that was a horrible pun."

"I really wasn't trying," Rio chuckled.

"Yeah, I suppose you're not that smart."

"Yeah, I suppose no-hey!"

"We're still in the middle of something here, boys," Tazz interrupted them, "You can make fun of each other later. Though, I should thank you for giving me some time to analyze."

"Yeah, you should," they both answered.

Tazz simply shrugged at them as three men that weren't affected by the lightning came towards them, "I'll show you how it's done," she smirked back at them before turning back towards her opponents. She rushed up on them before they could attack her all at once, "You three should know that I used my Pinpoint spell earlier to check out the weaknesses within your body. You have horribly weak ankles," she said, looking over at the man to her left. She quickly slammed a foot down into one of his ankles, causing him to go down easily. She then turned to the man in the middle, sending a hard punch into his gut, "You had surgery on your stomach about a year ago. It's still a weak spot for you now," she said just before the man grabbed onto his stomach and fell to the ground, "And you," she said, turning to the last man, "Well, you've had several concussions throughout your life. That makes your head rather weak," she said as she slammed his head into one of the beams that held the building up. The man was knocked out in an instant.

Rio and Chris watched in amazement at Tazz's abilities. They always tended to forget how smart she actually was.

"It's a good thing she's not using that Pulse Magic of hers to internally damage them," Rio mumbled.

"Uhhh…I'm not so sure about that," Chris replied, staring down at the man that had been punched in the stomach, "Pretty sure there's some internal damage going on there," he added when he saw the man twitch in pain.

"Whatever," Rio said, shaking off his surprise, "We can't let those two have all the fun, now can we?" he asked, motioning towards Lance and Tazz who were in the middle of fighting off more pirates.

"I suppose not," Chris answered, walking into the giant brawl with Rio.

. : + : .

"Are you sure it's up in that room, Securus-kun?" Nanami asked, looking over at the man.

"What? You suddenly doubting my abilities?"

"I just want to make sure I'm not wasting any of my magic."

"Tch, if this was anyone else, I'd think you were being rude and annoying," Securus grumbled.

"I'm not trying to be rude."

"I know that," he said, turning to blow his cigarette smoke away from her, "But that map is up in that room."

"All right. Just give me a moment and I'll retrieve it," she said, pulling out Swallowtail from its sheath. She looked up to the window that Securus had pointed out before tearing a red hole open with the blade just in front of her. She stepped through it, disappearing for a moment. Securus kept his eye on the window and soon enough, another red hole appeared with Nanami exiting through it. She looked around the room for the map. It only took her a moment to see a rolled up, old looking scroll sitting on the bed in the room, "They really did do a bad job of leaving this map out in the open like this," she commented. However, she still unrolled the scroll to make sure it really was the map. She quirked an eyebrow when she saw that the map was a solid black with white writing across it in messy cursive. She didn't have much time to read what was in the scroll other than Blackstroker's name when she heard the fighting downstairs become heavier, "I suppose this will have to do for now," she said as she rolled the map back up and tucked it away in her jacket. She quickly jumped back through the hole and closed it up before reappearing back in front of Securus and closing off the first hole she made as well.

"We all set then?" he asked, seeing the confusion on her face.

"I suppose so," she answered, still feeling unsure about the map she had taken, "It was the only map-like object in the room."

"Map-like?"

"I'll explain later, but it sounds like things are getting out of hand down in the bar."

"Guess we should go round up those four then."

Just as the two moved back to the front of the building, they heard Rio shout loudly.

"Where the hell do they all keep on coming from?! Enough of this shit! Eat fire you idiots!"

"Wait! Rio!" Chris shouted.

"Inferno Hacky!" Rio continued, ignoring Chris as he kicked up several red hacky sacks. As soon as they hit pirates or tables, they exploded into a plethora of fire balls. The bar easily caught fire and people were sent flying in all directions.

Nanami's eyes went wide upon seeing all the flames going up and attempted to move in to grab her guildmates. Though, she was quickly stopped when a heavy arm was slung over her shoulders.

"Securus-kun?"

"Just keep moving," he said, not bothering to look over at the building, "We can't afford to get caught up in that right now."

"But the others."

"They'll be fine," he said, forcing the two of them to move just as a crowd was beginning to gather outside the burning bar. Though, they both suddenly faltered when they heard the windows breaking and a small explosion go off.

"Run for it!" Rio shouted as he leapt out of the window before they got caught up in the explosion.

"You were the idiot that caused this!" Lance shouted from behind him.

"Just move it before we get caught!" Chris yelled, following the other two men.

The three of them zipped past the S-Class mages, not even realizing who they had passed.

Securus sighed heavily as he ran a hand through his hair, "That guy and his Hacky Sack Magic."

"Wait a minute," Nanami said, "One, two, three…where's Tazz-san?"

"Looks like you belong to a guild, little lady," a deep voice said as a figure appeared out of the billowing smoke from the bar. Securus and Nanami watching as a tall and broad man walked towards them. A black coat and hat covered him and Tazz hung from the back of her shirt on a large silver hook he had for a hand. Messy, dark hair hung all around his face, partially covering dark eyes filled with annoyance, "And unfortunately for you, I know of your guild, so how about we drop by the docks to see what your master thinks of what you've done here today," he explained, having seen the white guild mark under her collarbone.

"Put me down, you big bully!"

"I had hoped for a better comeback than that," he answered as he continued down the street towards the docks.

Securus made sure to keep Nanami locked in place as the arguing pair passed them. And he made sure to not let her move until they were out of sight.

"We should have helped her," Nanami said with a frown.

"Then we could have risked being found out. We have to make sure to get that map back to Cordelia."

"I know, but Tazz-san…"

"She's a tough girl. She deals with those other three idiots on a daily basis, so she can handle it."

"Cordelia-san is still going to be upset that we let something like that happen in the first place."

"I'll deal with Cordelia when the time comes, so you can stop worrying so much," he said, beginning to move forward, "Now let's head back. We need to make sure those four don't say anything stupid in front of that captain guy that could give our plan away."

Nanami simply nodded in reply before following him.

. : + : .

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Seth asked, looking over at Eli, "I'm pretty sure you're going to make Cordelia mad again with this."

"It'll be fine," Eli said with a smile, "She's fast asleep again after stopping by the music store. Plus, I don't want to spend the rest of the afternoon lugging all these barrels back to the guild."

"But you told her that you wouldn't carry all the barrels back at once."

"But we won't be carrying them," Eli said as he finished setting things up, Cordelia sleeping on top of Seth's shoulders with her head plopped down on top of his. Seth was also carrying the red and black headphones she had bought for Devin while Eli had a wooden guitar slung on his back, "We'll be riding them back. Think you can handle that?"

"It's not that I can't handle it," Seth answered, "It's just that I have this feeling that this isn't going to play out the way you're thinking."

"Well then, you can carry your share back by yourself if you want."

"That's no fun."

"Then it looks like you're stuck doing this with me," Eli said, grinning when he saw Seth give in with a sigh, "Now, we just need to push the line of barrels from the back to get them started and then use these boards to throw on top of them to act as surf boards," he explained, handing over a long plank of wood over to Seth.

"Guess we should get this started then," Seth said, moving towards the back of the line of barrels with Eli. The two of them counted down from three and began pushing. Soon enough the barrels began moving and picking up speed, the two men having to start running before throwing their boards on top of the barrels and jumping up on them. Eli was a few barrels ahead of Seth, the larger man landing on his own board towards the back of the line hard enough to jostle Cordelia awake.

She blinked a few times, unsure of where she was and why a town was passing by her so quickly. She then looked ahead of her to see Eli in front of her bent down slightly like he was surfing, "What the hell?" she mumbled as she looked down towards the ground. It was then that she saw the moving barrels under them and that people were having to dodge the moving line they were on, "WHAT THE HELL?!" she shouted.

"You're awake," Seth mentioned.

"Why are we barrel surfing our why back to the guild?!" Cordelia continued shouting, "ELI! This has your name written all over it!"

"Don't get your panties in a bunch," he said back to her, "Just enjoy the ride."

"I told you to take the barrels back in groups!"

"You only told me to carry them back one at a time," he smirked back at her, "You never said anything about not being able to ride them back."

"I didn't think I had to!"

"Well it doesn't matter now. You can't jump off or else you'll just fall down from land sickness."

"Just wait until we get back to the guild! And how do you plan on stopping all of these barrels to get them onto ships?!"

"Uhhh…"

"You moron! You didn't even think about that, did you?!"

"Guess we'll just have to wing it."

"Wing it?! All these barrels are going to break and then it's gonna cost me more money I don't have!" she said, now crying as she face planted back onto the top of Seth's head.

Seth patted her head, "It'll be fine. I'll make sure none of them get broken."

"Yeah, all right," she sniffed in response. She watched as they made their way through town and down towards the docks. For a moment, she thought that Seth might have been right and that things would be fine until she saw a slight obstacle in their way, "We're totally going to hit that guy!" she shouted when she saw a large man in a black coat heading towards the dock their guild was stationed at, facing away from them.

"OI! Move it!" Eli shouted at him in an attempted to get him to move.

The man looked back at them, but didn't move out of the way.

"Dammit!" Eli grumbled, moving his board down the line until he reached the front barrels. He forced the barrels to move around the man, causing the entire line of them to move outwards and then back in at a sharp angle. This also caused them to pick up some speed as they flew down the docks and up onto the guild. The three of them went flying up off of the barrels, Cordelia falling off of Seth's shoulders in the process. Though, she didn't land hard on the deck like to two men. She was easily caught by Isaak, who had been waiting with Ace and Devin for them to come back to help load the barrels onto the supply ship.

"Looks like angels really do fall," Isaak said, smiling down at the guild master in his arms.

"Isaak!" Cordelia shouted in embarrassment, a flush across her cheeks.

"Put her down, Marzell!" Eli yelled, attempting to get up. Though, the falling barrels easily smacked him back down.

"If a single one of those barrels break, it's coming out of your pocket!" Cordelia snapped.

Luckily for Eli, Seth had made sure that all the barrels landed safely, including the ones that had hit Eli.

"Looks like you had quite the ride in from town," Isaak said as he put Cordelia back on her feet, "And I'm surprised you even went into town in the first place. I know how you are on land."

"Yeah, well, I had to get something important."

"Is this the guild, Storm's Helm?" a deep voice asked, interrupting the conversation.

The group looked over to see the man in the black coat from before standing on the docks in front of them. They also saw Tazz hanging from a large hook by her shirt.

"Tazz!" Cordelia shouted.

"Looks like I'm at the right place then," the man said.

"Let her go!" Cordelia yelled.

"Not until I speak with the master of this guild."

"Well you're talking to her, so let her go right now!"

"You?" the man asked with a laugh, "You're kidding me, right?"

Cordelia called out her Twin Pistols, aiming them at the man, "Does it look like I'm kidding?" she asked lowly, "Now let her go."

The man stared Cordelia down a moment longer before throwing Tazz up on the ship, "You should keep a better watch over your guild members," he said, watching as Cordelia moved to stand in front of the younger woman, "They tore up my bar and roughed up my men."

"Maybe your men need to be a bit more thick-skinned," Cordelia replied, "Who are you anyways?"

"Madmartigan," he answered, "You'd be wise to remember that name and stay out of my way. Your guild isn't the only vessel on the seas, you know."

"Is that a threat?"

"Take it as you like," he shrugged as he began walking away, "Just don't go sticking your nose into things that you shouldn't be. Life will be easier for you and your guild that way."

Once he was gone, Cordelia sighed in relief and recalled her pistols. She then turned to look at Tazz, "Are you all right?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"What happened?"

"I…uh…I got into a fight?"

Cordelia sighed at her answer, "A fight over what? And how bad did it turn out for that man to bring you all the way here himself? And why does his name sound familiar?"

"Don't be mad at her, Cordelia-san," Nanami interrupted, walking up onto the ship with Securus.

"I'm not mad…unless I should be," she answered, "I just want to know what's going on."

Securus looked over at Tazz, "Thanks for the help, but we'll explain things from here. You should go find those boys a give them a hard time for abandoning you back there."

Tazz's eye twitched at the mention of her teammates running off without her and quickly disappeared towards the dorms to hunt them down.

"So what's going on?" Cordelia asked, looking at the two S-Class mages along with the small group behind her.

"You needed a way to fill up the vault and we found a way to do it," Securus answered, "Blackstroker's hoard."

"You're kidding, right?" Cordelia answered, almost wanting to laugh, "No one has any idea where that treasure is or if it even really exists."

"We got the map," Securus replied, "That's how Tazz got caught. We had her, Rio, Chris and Lance be a distraction to those pirates while Nanami and I got the map."

"Pirates," Cordelia mumbled as pieces suddenly clicked together in her mind, "Pirates! Madmartigan and the Black Skulls! You went and stole from them?! Holy hell! Do you have any idea what kind of enemy you just made for our guild?!"

"Calm down, Cordelia-san," Nanami said, "They don't know we took the map."

"Plus, their building was on fire when we left," Securus added, "That map could have easily burnt up in the flames for all they know."

"That map better be real for you two to go and cause all that trouble," Cordelia grumbled, "Let me see it at least."

Nanami pulled out the scroll from her jacket and handed it over, "It looks a little odd."

Cordelia unrolled it to see the pitch black color of the page with the white letting across it, "What is this? Is this really a map?"

Isaak looked over it, quickly recognizing something familiar about it, "It's coded in Runes," he said, "I've seen a few treasure maps like this before. You have to figure out clues to reveal pieces of the map."

"Well, what's it say?" Ace asked.

"Welcome to my treasure hunt!" Cordelia began, "You've found the one and only map to my hoard of gold! But of course, I couldn't make it easy for you. You will have to follow clues and solve puzzles before you get your reward. Below is the first clue to the first piece of my map. Good luck and happy hunting! William Blackstroker," she said, looking up at the crowd around her. She then glanced down at the clue underneath the beginning message, "I like it louder than the boom of a big bass drum. I need it harder than the sound of guitar grunge. I like to crank it up, make it thump, all needles to the core. Head banging in the pit and throwing my horns. And just like old school Sabbath, Zeppelin and Lemmy, I need to drop it down low and make it heavy. I like it heavy!"

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Ace asked.

Everyone stayed silent as they thought about what it could be. Though, it was Devin that had a light bulb go off in his mind as his eyes lit up in realization.

"Those are song lyrics!" he said.

"What? Why would Blackstroker leave song lyrics as a clue?" Eli asked.

"I know song lyrics when I hear them," Devin retorted, "And those are lyrics to a heavy rock band called Ocean Rage. The lead singer is a woman named Van Black."

"So what? We have to go hunt down this band?" Ace asked.

"It's the only thing that remotely makes sense," Securus said.

"Plus, her last name is Black. Black. Blackstroker. Maybe they're related," Cordelia added.

"Yeah, but where is this band even at?" Eli asked.

"They're touring in Caelum right now," Devin answered. The others stared at him in surprise, "What? I like them a lot, so I keep up with them when they're touring."

"I already wanted to head to Caelum anyways," Cordelia said, a smile finally appearing on her face, "All right! Looks like we're gonna be going treasure hunting! And for Blackstroker's hoard!"

"We'll be set for life with a hoard like that!" Ace cheered.

"And it looks like we've already got the first clue figured out!" Cordelia grinned, hugging Devin tightly, "You're the best, Devin!" she said, taking the headphones from Seth and handing them over to Devin, "You more than deserve these right now!"

Devin stared down at the new headphones in surprise, "You didn't have to buy me new ones."

"Of course I did! You other ones broke."

Devin smiled softly down at them, "Thanks."

"You're welcome!" she answered, "Now then, we should get prepared for the treasure hunt…" she began before drifting off for a moment as an odd feeling came over her, like someone was watching over them.

"Cor?" Eli asked, "What's wrong?"

"Hmm? Oh! It's nothing!" she answered with a forced smile, "I just zoned out for a moment. Now then! Let's start getting ready! I want to head out sooner than two days. So once everyone is back on the guild, we're heading out!"

The others nodded at her and began moving further into the guild, a few of them carrying barrels with them to store on the supply ship. As they moved away, Cordelia turned back to face an area up away from the docks. She narrowed her eyes at an alleyway that she had felt that odd feeling from, but she didn't see anyone or anything there. Still, she couldn't shake the bad feeling it had brought and she hoped that taking in Blackstroker's map wasn't a bad decision.

A/N: And there we are! I hope you all enjoyed it!

Credits

Madmartigan - MyDearWatson

Alrighty! So that was lots of fun to write and we've got some things starting up now!

So with the introduction of Madmartigan and the Black Skulls, I will be taking submissions for his crew! Now, submissions for them will work a bit differently as I want 7 main crew members (as he has a large crew). These 7 people will be the focused villains for this arc along with Madmartigan, so they will be the strongest people in his crew aside for himself. I haven't fully decided on a magic for Madmartigan and I will most likely wait until I see what I get from you all to decide on his. So you have free reign of magic. Also, keep in mind, they don't have to have magic. They can use magic items or have specific fighting styles that they're masters of. I mean, you can literally do anything you want, so long as these guys are strong since they'll have to constantly battle it out with our heroes all the way up until the end of the arc. But do keep in mind that they'll eventually get beaten. Also, again the only thing I ask is that you do not send me in a Slayer of any type!

So the first 7 of you that send me in a crew member will get one of these spots! After that, I'll have to close things off. I also ask that you only send in one as this will give other people a chance to send something in. If you send something in after the cut off point, I'll let you know and may ask you to save that villain for something later. I will put up a counter in my profile under the Storm's Helm section for how many spots are filled, so check there first to see if there are any slots open. I would ask that you follow the same form as you did for your OCs and PM the character to me. Although, you probably won't need to fill out the Romance section. But I would still like to know what they look like, their clothing, their personality, their magic/abilities and their history. Also, if you want them tied in with a specific character, let me know and we'll work something out. It doesn't have to be anything complicated like them being related to someone. It could be something humorous, like a quick run in they had with each other a while back or something. Just let me know!

I also have plans of Naval Forces being involved soon, so if you would be interested in sending in a character for them, PM me and we'll discuss things as I still have to work out some things for this group before I introduce them and start to fully accept submissions for them. I just wanted to give you all a heads up on this if you wanted to plan ahead for a character.

Now then, let's see…ah! Yes! As a couple of you mentioned, Madmartigan is from an older movie and was played by Val Kilmer. The movie is called Willow and I swear it gets funnier every time I watch it, though, I blame Val Kilmer for his role as Madmartigan for that, lol.

Also, the lyrics used in the clue were from the song 'I Like It Heavy' by Halestorm. Awesome song and band! But I don't own anything!

I'm still working on One Piece and I finally met Ace! Hands down my favorite character next to Sanji! But I always end up liking characters that make me sad and I've already figured out things that will eventually happen and now I want to cry! T.T

Anyways…

Let's move onto those awesome reviews!

Origm2012 - Haha! Well I'm glad to hear that reading a new chapter won over the Seven Deadly Sins! We already have our first mystery about a character! Something is definitely going on with Sam, but we'll have to be patient on that one. But I'm glad you liked the interactions between all the characters in that opening scene. Well, Gordon was never gonna be the set guild master, lol, thank goodness! But he was actually created after Cordelia was. Really, the original plan was for him to disappear after he was defeated, but then I created him and liked him enough to keep him on as a main character and now I'm working to knock him dow2n and then rebuild him…kinda like Gajeel, lol. Yeah, I figured having Finn there for Cordelia would help her a lot, and Duke too once he makes an appearance. Haha! Glad you enjoyed that land sickness bit as well as the gun shop scene. And of course I have to tease you all a bit. I gotta get my fun in somehow. But that bit I was teasing you with still hasn't come out, so you'll still have to wait for that, lol. But I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

reven228 - LOL! That Simpson's reference! I was secretly hoping someone would do that! But I figured many of you would pick up on that Shining reference compared to the Willow one I used. Glad you like the idea of the pirates going on in this chapter. I'm really liking the idea myself and I hope they turn out well for you all once more of them start getting introduced. I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

IdentityCrisis.03 - Yeah, that land sickness really gets to the Murdock siblings, lol. Well you're farther along with the show than I am, so that's a bonus point for you! Hope you enjoyed this chapter!

Cat the Alien - Glad to hear that you're still enjoying things going on in Storm's Helm! And I'll work something out to have some more screen time between Kasra and John, lol. But I'm glad that you really enjoyed the last chapter. And yes! Madmartigan was played by Val Kilmer! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

CryptozoologyConundrum - ^.^ Glad you're liking the guild so much! Poor Jay! He really doesn't stand a chance, does he? But I'm glad you enjoyed the scene with Cordelia and her dad. And Gordon will be a slow build into an eventual good guy…well as good as he can get, lol. Yeah, those pirates are probably gonna regret waving that map around, lol. They just have no idea yet! Hope you enjoyed this chapter!

Sakura-Fiction - Yep! The start of the first big arc! Can't be that easy getting the map away from the pirates, now can it? And I'm glad you enjoyed Vi's jokes, lol. I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

DarkHyena - Yeah, that land sickness is pretty bad for Cordelia and Ace. But I've got ways around that planned eventually for emergency purposes! Haha! I'm sure Devin won't mind helping out with the treasure hunt, especially after getting those new headphones. ^.^ Glad that you're enjoying Vi's character so much! And Aria is a bit of an oddball, so she'll probably constantly do weirder things throughout the story, lol. Yeah, I think those pirates are gonna have a harder time than they thought when it comes to the guild. And writing these chapters is fun for me, so I don't mind the quick updates. Although, I did take a small break recently for my birthday and the vacation I went on, so that's why it took a bit longer than usual to get this chapter up. But I hope you enjoyed it!

Momochan77 - Glad you enjoyed the chapter! The land sickness seemed to be a favorite moment for many of you, lol. But I'm glad you liked that small interaction between Eli and Cordelia. And I'm glad that you're liking the fan art! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

XLil MEkoX - Yeah, little by little Gordon will redeem himself, but he dug a pretty deep grave for himself, so it'll take some time for him to get out of it. Glad you liked that father-daughter moment. I figured Finn would do well in helping Cordelia out. Securus has his good moments, lol. Yeah, the Murdock siblings have it rough with that land sickness! Glad you liked the chapter overall! And yeah, One Piece is turning into one of my favorites now, lol. Hope you enjoyed this chapter!

Dreadburner94 - LOL, yeah that's the usual ritual. And I hadn't thought of her having a weakness against earth mages until you mentioned it, but now it's a high possibility. Oh no! Vi brought out the puns, lol! But yeah, she knows how to "cut a bargain". Yeah, well, I'm sure Cordelia hoped that Aria would have better sense and Jay was with her too, so I supposed that helped. And I think Nanami and Securus definitely made Cordelia's day with that map, even if they made some pirate enemies in the process. Hope you enjoyed this chapter!

Benthino - Haha! Glad to hear that you like the idea of pirates! And those dark guilds will eventually start making their way into the story, so I'm sure you'll be ready to send in some villains when I need them for those guilds, lol. I hope you enjoyed the chapter!

silverhawk88 - Yep, that land sickness is pretty hard on the Murdock siblings. There will be a few ways around it for them eventually. I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

Ogrespi - Glad you enjoyed that father-daughter moment and that you think Cordelia is doing well so far as a guild master! And fighting pirates will be coming soon! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

ThePrinceOfLight - Yeah, Matilda without coffee…it's a bad thing, lol. And Sam's secret will stay hidden for a while, but we'll eventually get there. Yeah, we're gonna see some slow growth for Gordon, but at least he admitted his screw ups in the last chapter. Glad you enjoyed that land sickness bit for the Murdock siblings, lol. And the pirates should make things pretty interesting for the guild! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

LightandDarkHeart - Yeah, Gordon will slowly be realizing his mistakes, though he make take a few steps backwards in the process every now and then, lol, but he'll eventually get there. And I'm glad you liked the land sickness bit for Cordelia and Ace! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

PlaguedAmbition - Yep, those pirates should make things interesting for the guild! And it'll be the entire guild getting involved with the hunt since they have to figure out all those clues first! So it should be pretty fun! And yes, I could totally picture Securus hustling people into doing his work for him, so that bit got put in there, lol. I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

Joshua1277 - I haven't thought about decaf coffee for Matilda, mostly because she'll instantly know what it's not the real stuff. So she probably would get mad, lol. Yeah, at least Gordon wasn't using the money for himself, so that's a plus for him. Glad you enjoyed the land sickness bit. And yeah, I'm sure there will be a lot of connections eventually being shown through different towns for people in the guild. Yeah, you gotta watch out for those pirates. They just sneak up right on you! Yeah, I'm slowly getting through One Piece, but it's totally worth it! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

The Baz - Haha! Gotta keep you readers on your toes with these new stories, lol! But I'm glad you're like the story and I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

frozenwolf94 - Yeah, that land sickness is rough for Cordelia and Ace. And how she dealt with it in the past for missions will eventually be explained. Yep! New villains to come for this arc! I'm excited myself to see what people send in for the villains! And no worries on the review timing, lol. I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

All right, I think that's all for this chapter then.

I'll have the next one up soon!

Please remember to review!

Yours Truly,

MyDearWatson