After booking a room for the night, well it was more like for the day since Laxus didn't even talk to the inn's receptionist about booking a room until just before 4 in the morning. The moment he saw the inside of the room, Laxus crashed. He didn't have the energy to do more than take off his shoes before he collapsed onto the bed for some much-needed sleep. Sure it was kind of disgusting that he was sleeping in dirty, travelling clothes, but considering he was essentially dead on his feet before he made it to the room, it wasn't unreasonable.

Cassie was slightly better off than Laxus, but not by much. She, at least, managed to shimmy out of her clothes, and put on an oversized t-shirt, something she considered to be nightwear, which she got from the backpack that she left in her room for the duration of her mission. Slipping under the covers, she swaddled herself in the blankets to keep warm. The instant her head hit the pillow, she was out like a light.

Soft snores escaped her mouth as she buried her head between the complimentary pillows. Even with the stray beams of light leaking through the curtains, the mage didn't wake. The combination of magical exhaustion and being up until the early hours of the morning had taken its toll on her. Waking before noon wasn't even a possibility in her mind. She was lulled to sleep by soft music, the white noise pumping through the tangled mess her headphones had become helped to keep her that way throughout the night.

Laxus on the other hand, slept fitfully; waking sporadically from the noises made throughout the Inn. He was thankful that he had been so tired that he could sleep through it for the first portion of his rest, allowing him to get some semblance of sleep. At least for a little while.

Once he had determined that he wasn't going to get any more sleep, he got up and began his day. He showered for the first time in what felt like forever. Washing off the dirt and grime that had accumulated throughout his travels was a welcomed relief. The disgusting scent of the sewer seemed to cling to him; it may have been diluted compared to how bad it smelt last night, but the stink was no joke. Especially to someone with a heightened sense of smell. Once he had finished cleaning himself to his impossibly high standards, he dried himself off and got dressed in some workout clothes before heading down for breakfast. Or what everyone else considered lunch.

He then proceeded to eat enough food for 4-5 people.

Perks of having a dragon-sized appetite and skipping a meal, he supposed.

Laxus decided to start his post-meal workout with a light jog to the forest bordering the city of Violet. No need to regurgitate the meal he had just ingested. He lost himself in the steady rhythm of his stride. The sound of his shoes connecting with the pavement echoed in his ears. Everything else faded away.

Regret and guilt were pushed to the back of his mind; he forgot about figuring out where he went wrong. What had made him turn out this way. All that mattered at this moment was the adrenaline pumping through his veins, the blood rushing in his ears and the ache building in his legs.

His arrival at the edge of the forest came much too quickly. Time seemed to have sped up while he was running, making it seem as though minutes past when in actuality it had taken him half an hour to end up where he was. The lightning mage needed to be a safe distance away from the town to do some meditation. He didn't want to risk the civilians in a town in case his magic went haywire while he was trying to communicate with the dragon in the lacrama his deadbeat dad implanted in him during his childhood. Laxus had been trying to figure out a way for him and the dragon to communicate without the raging migraine it always seemed to give him.

Cassie on the other hand had just woken up. She wiped the sleep from her eyes as she stretched her back. A larger cracking noise could be heard as she did this. Both her neck and her spine felt so much looser afterwards. Before hopping into the shower, Cassie runs through a complex stretching routine. One involving a series of contortions that would cause any person who hasn't been doing flexibility training for years to cringe and cry out in pain.

Once her body was significantly more relaxed, a shower was in order. She spoiled herself by using, what anyone else would call burning hot water, but to her, it was comfortable. And luxurious. Very rarely did her travels involve anything a hurried lukewarm shower before crashing for the night. But beggars can't be choosers.

Cassie danced around the bathroom, bopping along to whatever pop song the radio station she was tuned into was playing. For the first time in a long while, the mage took her time getting ready. There was no job to rush off to, no place she wants to visit later on in the day. She was perfectly content to take her time and enjoy her post-sleep, pre-exercise time.

After manually drying herself, and her hair off, Cassie dressed in some street-casual workout gear. Black leggings covered her shapely legs, a clean strappy dark coloured sports bra could be seen through the white exercise tank top she wore. She briefly considered grabbing a sweater, but it was 2 in the afternoon and sunny. It was doubtful that she would need it.

The woman then proceeded to arm herself. She grabbed a long, double-edged knife and its respective sheath. Making sure it was securely strapped to her left thigh so that it was easily accessible, just in case. One can never be too prepared.

Normally, she would try to be more discreet with her weapons as people often found it unnerving that she was armed to the teeth. But there wasn't anywhere to hide the bulky items. She wasn't bringing her pack, it would only get in her way as she trained. But she wasn't about to compromise her safety for the comfort of others.

Cassie slipped on her only set of shoes, worn leather combat boots. When she first became a mage, right after her first couple of jobs, she splurged on them. She made sure to buy a high-quality set so she wouldn't have to replace them very often because she planned to wear them all the time. They were extremely versatile, she could wear them while hiking, running, jumping.

And, her favourite part, they were excellent for kicking people. The metal re-enforced toes were certainly worth the extra payment to be altered. A kick to any body part with those was certain to leave the victim with a painful reminder. Often in the form of tender bruises and, on occasion, broken bones. But that had only happened a couple of times so far.

Once the travelling mage had snagged a few apples from the dining hall, she ate them as she began her walk to find them somewhere to exercise. She needed a large, flat area to run some laps, go through some attack forms, and maybe have some fun with her magic. It always felt nice when she just got to relax and not focus on sharpening her skills.

For most mages, their magic container is like a muscle. The more you practice the stronger and larger it gets. The drawback is that once you stop practicing, it begins to deteriorate. Weakening until there was barely anything left to work with. This doesn't happen quickly, it's a slow process that takes years to happen. Once it has deteriorated, it is likely that your body can't handle the physical toll magic takes and you end up seriously injuring yourself.

This comes either in the form of magic over-expenditure, when you use too much magic, too fast, for too long. Your magic containers aren't used to the strain and often result in the mage being comatose, while the body attempts to recalibrate itself. Orthe mage develops magic depletion syndrome, caused by the body forgetting how to absorb all the ethernano in the air and rejecting it. Causing a mage to become violently ill.

So making time to practice your magic as often as possible is a necessity for every mage anywhere on Earthland. Dedicated mages like Cassie and Laxus practice almost every day; though most mages only stretch their containers a few times a week, either by training or by completing jobs requiring magic.

Cassie was looking forward to keeping her training fun and light. It wasn't often that she wasn't trying to improve on some aspect of bed magic. She intended to enjoy it, even if it only lasts a day.

The mage was walking through the centre of town when she suddenly heard a strange noise behind her. One that made all the nerves in her body tense.

A gunshot.

Whipping around, Cassie immediately spotted where the danger was located. A large, opulent building with the word BANK engraved in the stone above the entrance. The large wooden doors under it were hanging off of its hinges and the creaking noise it would've made was covered by the sound of scared citizens. People screeched in terror, running away from the scene like chickens like their heads cut off.

She rushed to the site. Trying to make sense of what was happening from the terrified babbling she overheard along the way.

From what she understood, a group of dark mages had walked into the building and demanded money. They had a rope mage among their ranks tie up everyone else, using their lives as leverage to convince the manager to give up to give them everything that could be worth a pretty penny. The manager refused and the leader had fired a warning shot to intimate him, which is the sound that caused all the hairs on her body to stand at attention.

Currently, Cassie was crouched down at the front windows, peering inside of the foyer. She needed to see what was going on inside the bank to formulate her plan of attack.

The hostages were trembling on the ground, a pair of guns pointed at them. Their fear-filled eyes were trained on the leader and the drawn gun in his hand. It seemed as though he had fired a warning shot, successfully intimidating the manager. It seemed as though he was close to cracking. The terror they felt was tangible; it could be seen seeping out of their very being. Cassie felt for them.

She wanted nothing more than to rush in and save them. Reigning herself in was difficult, but necessary. There was no way she could help them if she didn't have a plan.

The first thing Cassie needed to do was assess the situation. Her magic relied heavily on tactics and she needed the element of surprise on her side if she wanted to beat them. There were 6 goons only 2 of them had guns, one with a pistol and the other had a rifle pointed at the hostages, all of them with their back to her, thankfully. Their leader seemed to be monologuing to the manager. What is with bad guys and monologuing? she thought to herself. Shaking her head, Cassie focused back on the task at hand. 2 others were flanking the leader. Obviously for his protection.

Some of the hostages spotted her and she was quick to put her finger to her lips. The universal symbol for keep quiet. Cassie couldn't have anyone busting her or else she wouldn't have the element of surprise on her side. Relief washed through her when they understood.

First, she had to take out the goons. Having hostages in a fight is a bad idea, she wouldn't be able to fight if she was keeping an eye on them. Then get the manager away from the leader and his bodyguards. The further away from him, he is, the less likely it is for him to be hoodwinked.

Take out the guards, isolating the leader. Cutting him off from his support seemed to be her best bet. He was less of a threat when he had no backup. Finally, knock the leader out, and call the Knights.

A rumbling noise was gradually getting louder and louder. Just as her ears began to adjust to the noise, a large, echoing BOOM sounded. In its wake, windowpanes rattled, ears rung and people were left disoriented. Including her.

Everyone around her was in a similar state. All but a herculean man that is. One who had appeared in the foyer after the perplexing sound. He stood before the manager who was cowering and attempting to crawl away while the robbers were occupied.

His blonde hair seemed to be defying gravity. It was messy and crazy and a little cute. He had calculating blue-grey eyes seemed to be analyzing the situation he was in, deciphering the best strategy for this situation. On his lips was an intimidating smirk.

Despite all of these iconic features, the most distinguishing feature to Cassie was the lightning bolt-shaped scar over his right eye. It was the same scar that the guy she ran into early this morning had. She had no idea that he had magic. And it was blatantly obvious now that he did. Considering a) he seemingly teleported into the bank from nowhere and b) he was bathed in lightning. Bolts seemed to wrap themselves around him. Protecting him. They flickered dangerously in the air, as everyone began to taste the ozone he seemed to bring with him.

Cassie figured it would be best to make herself known. She didn't want him — what was his name again? It starts with an L... I think...— to think that she was a threat. Getting hit with one of those bolts did not seem appealing.

The space around her folded at her will. Bending upon itself until where she wanted to go and where she was aligned. Then she opened a breach. Ripping space itself apart so that she could move to where she wanted to go in the blink of an eye. One moment she was hidden from the sight of the dark mages, and the next she was beside the well-built man with the lightning-shaped scar.

"Hey, Sir sparks-a-lot! Would you mind turning down the voltage? If I'm gonna help you, I'd rather not be fried and twitching on the floor."

Before having the sprite appear beside him, in front of a gunman (and a dark guild!), and call him Sir sparks-a-lot, Laxus was having a great day.

Well, not really. Trying to talk to the dragon was a bust. Either the dragon didn't want to talk, or Laxus pissed him off somehow. No matter the reason, it left him with a raging headache. One whose end was nowhere in sight.

The only relatively good thing that came out of mediation was how much more in tune he was with his enhanced senses. Which was my he could hear the gunshot from a mile deep in the forest. He jolted to his feet, using the lightning at his disposal to enhance his speed and agility until he came across signs of the fight. Then he used his lightning body spell to, essentially, teleport into the location of the fight. Laxus ended up inside a bank, in the middle of the city square, opposite a gaudy gold fountain.

Then the sprite pops up, insults him and simultaneously offering help. She seems to be everywhere today. First this morning. Now at a bank robbery. Is she stalking me?

All he does in response to her, kind of, insulting comment is raise an eyebrow.

Cassie makes a big show of moving away from him. Taking a giant step to her left, she keeps a deadpan expression on her face, working hard to keep her smirk under wraps.

The goons are stunned. Did this woman just disrespect Laxus Dreyar? Even the leader is shocked by her actions.

Cassie didn't understand what the big deal was. Is this guy famous for being violent or something? Is that why these goons look like they're about to wet themselves?

The leader, who is fighting to keep himself from running away from the scene, motions for some of the mages guarding the hostages to attack them.

One rushes at Laxus, trying to catch him off guard with a flaming fireball to the shoulder while one of the 2 gunmen, the one wielding a pistol, attempts to shoot her. Cassie opens a small tear in space, barely perceptible to anyone who wasn't looking for it, to move the bullet away from anyone. She didn't want to try and hit one of the dark mages, there was a chance that she could hit one of the hostages by accident and she didn't want to risk it.

Cassie folded the space in front of her, easily ripping through the layers making a breach large enough for her to walk through. Stepping through space was second nature to her, she felt nothing more than a brief detachment from space and time, then she was right where she wanted to be. Directly in front of the gunman. Quickly, before the grunt man's surprise wore off, she grips the barrel of the gun in her hand, thrusting it up towards the ceiling while simultaneously snapping his wrist away from the handle.

Then she gripped his wrist, twisting him so that his shoulder is in between her arm and chest. Flipping the gun in her hand, she doesn't hesitate to shoot him in the shoulder. It's painful enough that he will be out for the rest of the fight. But not enough that he is permanently damaged.

They may be on opposite sides, but she didn't want to potentially kill him.

Spinning towards the other gun-wielder, she aims for his leg and fires. Hoping that it would keep him out of the fight. She didn't want to worry about bullets coming her way or the hostage's way. She opens a breach in front of the rifle-wielding gunman, snatching it out of their hand, and tosses it through another. It landed behind the service counter where neither of them could use it.

For a brief moment, Cassie caught a glance of the lightning mage. He had taken down his guy with an electric fist to the face. She grimaced at the thought of it. That must've hurt. He's still convulsing a bit on the floor.

To clarify with whatever his name is, she shouted across the marbled room, "You got the bossman and his bodyguards right?"

Laxus flinches subtly, the reminder of Bickslow and his ridiculous nicknames stinging more than he had thought it would.

The goons took this as a sign of weakness and tried to take advantage of it. Laxus, was quick to prove them wrong, sending a Raging Bolt at each of them. Only one managed to dodge it. And unfortunately for the one who didn't, the muscle spasms caused by the electricity coursing through his veins were quite painful. The one who was newly aquatinted with the floor cried out in pain.

"I think I've got it handled" He deadpans, motioning to the bodies on the floor.

Trying to distract himself from the pain in his chest at the thought of the friends he left behind, he chooses to tease the tiny woman a little more.

"Can you handle the last 3? I would hate to have to step in." To emphasize his point, he punches the remaining bodyguard in the face, sans magic. The telltale sound of cartilage crunching notifies both mages that his nose is broken. For his credit, all the man does is blink the tears out of his eyes and gets up again.

Cassie clenches her jaw and grinds her teeth. She hates the implication that she's weak. It lights a fire under her. The rage pumping through her veins is all-consuming. All she can think about is rubbing her success in the blond prick's face.

She rushes forward, weaving between the remaining grunt men with panther-like grace. Her knife is drawn in one hand, the gun in the other. Her lithe body ducks and rolls and strikes. Dodging bursts of magical wind and rope. Setting herself up for as many solid hits as she can land without allowing them to land any in return.

The mage flips the knife in her hand. The sharp edges running parallel to her forearm as she drags the blade in a wide arch, slicing across the first goon's chest while sending the second flying with a powerful kick to the chest.

He gets up and runs at her, attempting to tackle her to the floor to wrestle her into submission, knocking the gun out of her hand in the process. The sound of it sliding across the floor grates on her ears.

She quickly doges him, and retaliates with an elbow to the face. Successfully breaking his nose in the process. As number 2 attempts to blink the tears out of his eyes, number 3 chants,

"Rope Magic: Lasso!"

A purple magic circle appears in front of their extended hand. She whips around, grabbing the rope headed towards her with both hands and pulls. Dragging the mage with it, she swings him around. Releasing him just in time to knock the boss over. His half-complete magic circle is dispelled now that he had lost focus. The rope mage's weight keeps the boss from getting up.

The final move of the battle is to subdue number 2 with a strike of lightning, provided by the lightning god himself.

Cassie looks at the lightning mage and sees an look of superiority.

His smug voice breaks through her bubble of exhaustion. "Guess you did need my help after all."

"As if." She said exasperatedly. "I took out the boss. Which was your job."

Cassie walks to wear the gun lay on the floor, picks it up, emptied the bullet chamber and turned the safety on. She then proceeded to stick it in the waistband of her leggings.

Turning to Laxus, she asks "Could you call the Knights? I left my lacrama in my room."

"Don't you have one right there?" He motions to the one connected to her earbuds. "We both took down someone else's opponent. We're even."

"Music lacrama only. Couldn't afford to get the latest version." He nods, understanding. Lacrama's were expensive.

Grabbing his own from his pocket, he dials the number and begins to walk away. Cassie doesn't let him get far without her.

She reasons, "We both participated in the fight. We should both brief the council. Plus, I was here before you, I might have information you don't."

"Laxus Dreyar," the voice on the other end spat venomously.

So his name is Laxus... It suits him...

"What is the reason for your call this time?"

"Stopped a bank robbery in Violet. A group of 9 people, both mages and non-mages ..."