A/N: Back at it again, and this time will do it at my own pace. I also wanna thank Origm2012 for proof-reading this chapter, and congratulate musicaldreams89 on her hard-work.
I do not own the publication rights or intellectual property to Fairy Tail.
Kindly enjoy the story.
"...History would look back on that fateful morning of November 14th x781, at Martyr Square in Dasht-e Lut. Two young lovers of warring factions, hand in hand, sealing 'The Magisters of Dhanb' back to 'The Black City'.
Though their heroic act saved the Dieserto Imperium from annihilation. It came at a cost as the magic required had rendered their existence to oblivion. Though speculation by eye-witnesses believed that the two had bound themselves to 'The Great Divide' between our reality and the beyond. Preventing the return of 'The Seven' and the corruption they shall bring.
Shall their souls rest the light of Dhat-Badan… Adam Al-Qadir and Eve Ahinoam.
May Peace Be Upon Them.
Rumi Kapoor, November 16th x781..."
March 20 x803
"Could you kindly not smoke in my office, Monsieur Moradi," An older woman spoke. She had a cut-glass accent with a strong inflection that rolled like smooth waves onto the shore. "The lingering scent of tobacco is not something I'm very fond of."
Moradi stared at the woman right in the eye as he lifted the cigarette into his mouth. He took a long, deep inhale and then puffed out another cloud of smoke. "Apologies Madame, but I believe I'm the one in charge here."
"So you believe…" The woman sighed, "However let us not stall; we both know why you're here today."
"Ahh… your assertiveness is rather unprecedented, Madame Jardin," Moradi replied. His lips slowly stretched into a malicious smirk as his eyes began to glint with glee. Padmayla Golrao Jardin straightened her back slightly, watching as the man in front of her snapped his fingers, summoning a man of nondescript appearance who stood at the far end of the room.
He approached them with a suitcase in hand, and placed it right in front of Moradi. Padmayla heard two sharp clicks before the suitcase flung itself open. Behind it, paper was being rustled as Moradi continued to speak: "It has come to our attention that following the death of your husband, Golrao Islambouli (may peace be upon him), you are now the new guild-master of L'Oeil du Soleil. This means you have several new responsibilities. These include managing the welfare of your mages, accepting the mandatory number of jobs, notifying the Ministry of Magic, your local municipality leaders and yadda yadda yadda… you get the gist."
"Perfectly."
"Excellent, sharp lady you are!" Moradi laughed. "Anyways, let's get to the fun stuff and explain why I'm here."
"I'm listening."
"Good! Much better than that comedian you called a husband." He mocked. Padmayla observed the way he treated her late husband with contempt, contrasted with the softness in his eyes. They spoke a deep regret and apology for one's own duty. "As you know, your husband has racked up a huge debt with Magister Cherdoles," Moradi explained. "He borrowed a Million Riyals two years ago to cover the cost of maintenance for your guild building."
"Indeed that was the case," Padmayla responded. "The generosity of Lès Famille du Cherdoles always comes with strings attached."
"Rightfully so," Moradi quipped. He gave her a wink and a smile, but Padmayla ignored it outright. "Magister Cherdoles, from what I understood, was 'charitable' at the time. He probably pitied the family who lost their daughter to a street-rat magician. Either way, the conditions Monsieur Golrao agreed upon is he would pay the debt via installments. If he failed to do that, Magister Cherdoles would be within his right to reclaim your guild and all its mages as compensation. Is that correct?"
"Yes," Padmayla spoke. "You are correct. My husband did agree with Mahmoud Cherdoles on those conditions. I doubt he would extend the same charity to me, the widower who inherited everything."
"I would not know Madame. My employer works in mysterious ways."
"Unfortunately, I am fairly well versed with his idiosyncrasies…" she began. A pensive silence of twenty-five seconds came and passed. "As you probably already figured out, Mahmoud and I were once close. We knew each other far long before the 3rd Philosophical War. However, it's sad to see him still stuck in his petty ways. Then again, I haven't changed much as well."
"So it's true. He lent the money out of spite."
"Most likely."
Moradi looked at her and sighed. He had a face that said, "Must be a tough life". More so with amusement rather than pity. He closed the suitcase and made a gesture that their business was over. The man next to him picked it up as Moradi pulled himself off the chair.
"May peace be upon you." He spoke before he walked out the door.
"May peace be upon you, as well."
She was left alone with her thoughts as the two men left. The scent of smoke had vanished without a trace. Padmayla wondered to herself if her life would've been much easier if she were to give away the guild. It has been a year since Golrao vanished out in the Badlands of Desierto whilst out on a job, and in her gut, she knew that her husband couldn't have just died all a sudden. He had too much stubbornness and pride to just wither away underneath the desert sun, or whatever bandit caught him out in the endless dune. However all the signs indicated otherwise, and as a higher-caste mage, it was natural for Padmayla to inherit the title of Guild Master.
Padmayla sighed and muttered what a mess she was in. She looked at the back of her hands and saw the guild mark staring back at her. An eye and a sun, overlapped one-another. "I must re-apply the henna…" she mused. As a woman of the Al-Dusha'ra faith, tattoos were considered a sin and corruption against Dhat-Badan's gift. Golrao naturally got one - maybe that's the reason I fell in love with him.
"Knock-knock." A voice called out. "Are you done with your daydreaming, Padma?"
She looked away and saw a man by the door. Kasra Marachel, Golrao's second hand man. Always impeccably dressed with his colorful suits and unbuttoned shirts. He sported a dark-pink suit, pale-blue shirt and a silk turban in a deep shade of sapphire that radiated in the natural sunlight of her office.
"What is it Kasra?" Padma spoke. She had only so much tolerance to deal with one so-called 'charismatic gentleman', not two. "Whatever it is, please make it quick. Unless it's about settling a debate between you and Sati, I don't want to hear it."
"Oh no no." Kasra quipped. His deep baritone voice peppered richly with delight. "I was simply eavesdropping on your conversation with Yvann Moradi just now, about the debt. I may have a marvelous solution to your problem."
"Oh? I may ask." Padma responded. She lifted an eyebrow, not for intrigue, but simply because she heard variations of this story many times. "Do endeavour me with whatever plan you have concocted."
"I assure you, O' Matrone de la Guilde. This idea is worth considering."
Characters Introduced
Padmayla Golrao Jardin - CatTheAlien
Kasra Marachel - CatTheAlien
A/N: Oh it's another SYOC story that will never get finished... So you think.
I just wanna apologise to everyone who enjoyed my writing on disappearing and deleting my stories. Things have been tough, even before Covid-19 came along. Just personal issues and stress taking a toll on me - writing felt like a chore rather than a passion. However, I'm gonna change that with this story as I finally found a community to fall back upon.
Anyway, I'll be accepting 17 characters out of 18 for this story. However, as the story progresses and my writing improves, I might open it again for an additional few characters.
So I wanna dedicate this thank you to MyDearWatson, Dreadburner94, XLil MEkoX, Origm2012, RedMoonRabbit, Joshu1277, Benthino, Grimnack, musicaldreams89 and The Impostor for inspiring me to get back to writing from all the conversations we had.
Laters,
Cat