Another third person chapter.

Mermaid Heel

It was a nice day in the Salice. The sun was out, there were no clouds in the sky, and the birds were chirping. Walking through the busy streets were two women. One was Celia Marea, and the other was a woman with thick, curly bright green hair wearing a tight, dark yellow body suit with spider web designs on it. The woman had dark brown eyes that had bags under them from lack of sleep. This woman was Alana "Lana" Webb, a founding member of Mermaid Heel, mother of one, and Celia's best friend. Both women stood at equal height to each other and were in a heated conversation while heading back towards the guild.

"Can I at least take one week off without you getting into some type of trouble?" said Lana with exasperation.

"It's not like I asked to find a razed village with two kids as the only survivors." Celia pouted with protest.

"That's not the point, you can't seem not to keep yourself out of trouble." Lana scolded, her voice filled with mild annoyance.

"I'm sorry that I have the worst luck sometimes, but you knew what you were signing up for when you agreed to be my friend years ago." Celia shot back.

Lana rolled her eyes, "Yeah, if I would have known how much problems your luck would cause back then, I might have reconsidered." A smirk then made its way across her face, "I might have avoided what happened in Crocus five years ago"

Celia's face turned red and turned her head towards her friend with a glare, "I thought we agreed we'd never talk of that again!" Celia hissed.

"Oh, hush. I'm just pushing your buttons" Lana said, unfazed by Celia's glare. "And while we are on the pushing buttons, why didn't tell me about the two girls you found sooner? You know how bad you are with kids." Lana said, quickly changing topic.

Celia's glare was replaced with a face of mild embarrassment. "You just took the week off, and I didn't want to bother you… Besides, I think I did pretty well." Celia said, with a hint of pride.

Lana's face was neutral, and did not at all believe her longtime friend. "How many times did you make them cry?" She deadpanned.

Celia make a choking sound, before recovering quickly and mumbling something quietly.

"What was that?" Lana inquired.

"Three times. The purple haired girl twice, and the red head once" Celia said lowly in embarrassment.

Lana sighed, "Well, it could have been worse I suppose. I told you to come to me when it comes to children issues… While we are on the topic the girls, what do you have planned for them?"

Celia's face then turned a little serious, "Well the purple haired one, Kagura, has agreed to stay at guild for now, and I offered the red head, Rubina, a place to stay as well. I gave her some time to think about it… She awoke yesterday afternoon, by the way. She was still sleeping this morning, so I left her some fruit and fresh clothes by her bed for when she wakes up."

Lana eyed her friend, "Are they going to stay at the dorms? Someone else will have to pay for them for a while. Unless they are staying with one of us, and if that's the case, I already have a kid at home, and I don't have enough room for two more."

Celia looked onward, not worried by her friends concerns. "Don't worry about housing, there is a room open, and it's big enough for both them. I'll pay for them for a little while until they are able to pay for themselves."

So engaged in their conversation, the two women almost didn't notice that they just arrived outside the doors the guild.

They both stopped, Celia put her hand on the door, and a smirk made its way onto her face. "Don't worry about it, I got this handled." Her declaration was meet with a skeptical look from Lana. Celia then opened the door and both she and Lana walked inside.

The guild hall had a solid oak wood floor, and ocean blue walls with many images of mermaids and various aquatic life painted on them. The room was filled with wooden tables, organized in rows, and a stage at the back. The right side of the room had a bar that many types of alcoholic beverages. The left side of the room had a huge board with various pieces of paper pinned to it; this was the job board. Both sides of the room had doors that opened up to a hallway with various other rooms. A set of stairs in the front of room, left of the door, led up to the second floor, which had more tables, and a smaller mission board. This board held A-rank and higher jobs, and was up there so that they didn't get taken by mistake. The second floor had a balcony that overlooked the first. There was a set of stairs that led up to the third floor, which had a single room with a desk inside with tons of paper work strewn about. This was Celia's office.

There were various guild members with their ages varying between their late-teens to mid-thirties, sitting at the tables on seats with very comfortable cushions. There were also members sitting at the bar as well. They were watching a young woman, who was about twenty, with long blonde hair tied up into a pony tail. She was wearing a white bolero jacket and a white dress with a skirt. On her right hip were two swords: an elegant rapier, and a full sized katana inside a white sheath. She had a slender, but curvy body. She gave off an air of regality and elegance, and was playing a violin, filling the room with its melodious sound.

This was Maribelle Lockhart, one of the strongest, if not the strongest mage of Mermaid Heel. Maribelle finished her performance, then opened her brilliant emerald green eyes. The guild burst in to applause, with claps and whistles filling the air. Maribelle bowed in response, a small smile was on her face. The violin in her hand then disappeared in brief flash of gold light, and Maribelle then walked off stage.

Celia and Lana also started clapping, even though they just arrived at the end of the performance. "I have one more concern." Lana asked, turning her head towards Celia.

"Yes?" was Celia's only response.

Lana had a worried look on her face, "They have no one else their age here. The guild hasn't had kids that young hanging around for almost ten years." Her voice was filled concern.

Celia stopped clapping and looked at Lana, "Why don't you bring your kid? She's about their age, right?" She responded casually.

Lana's shoulders sunk and she sighed, "Well, Araña is a little younger than them, and I was hoping to wait until she was a little older before bringing her to the guild…. But, I guess could…" Her face then turned scary, "You better tell everyone to behave themselves. If I hear my baby repeating some of the stuff is that is said in here, you'll feel my wrath!" She threatened in a low voice.

Celia started sweating at her friend's threat, she put her hands up front of her in disarming manner, and had an uneasy smile. "Relax, jeez. I'll make sure everyone behaves themselves. "

Lana narrowed her eyes, "You better." She said threateningly.

"Master." Came a smooth voice from behind Celia.

Celia jumped in surprise, but she thanked whatever divine beings there where for getting her out the conversation with Lana. Celia turned around to face the person asking for attention, and found Maribelle staring at her with a neutral expression. "*Ahem* Yes, Maribelle?" Celia asked.

Maribelle blinked, not caring that she saved her guild's master from a potentially precarious situation. "I'm going on an S-class job. A large pack a blizzardverns are terrorizing settlements around Mt. Hakobe. The reward is two million Jewels for slaying all of them." And with that, she started walking towards the door.

"Alright, be safe then… Don't over extend yourself." Celia said to the young woman.

Maribelle stopped at the door and looked over shoulder, "Of course, Master." Maribelle said calmly, and then opened the door and walked out.

Celia then turned back to her friend, who was waiting patiently for her. "You were saying?" She asked.

Lana rolled her eyes, "Anyway… Do you know where the two girls are? I would like to talk to them, and potentially undo any damage you may have done to them."

Ignoring her friends jab, Celia scanned the rows of tables, and found young Kagura in the back talking to some of the younger members of the guild, who were still in their late teens. "The purple haired one, Kagura, is right there. The red head is in the infirmary, and I'm about to go talk to her." Celia said while pointing at the purple-nette.

Lana sighed, "Well, I better go talk to her then. I'll let you handle the other for now, but please refrain from doing something too traumatizing. From what you told me, they lost everything, and they don't need any more stress in their lives at the moment." Lana pleaded.

Celia nodded wordlessly and made her way towards the infirmary, responding to greetings from the various guild members as well.

When she got to the door of the infirmary, she took a deep breath and opened the door gently. She was greeted to the sight of Rubina slowly eating an apple. She looked exhausted, with small bags under her eyes from crying yesterday.

Rubina looked over to see who had entered the room, and then took one more bite of the apple before setting it down on a tray with other eaten fruit.

Celia walked over the bed she was in, and sat in the same chair from yesterday.

Rubina was staring down at the bed sheets, "Thanks for the fruit…" Rubina said calmly with a hint of tiredness.

"You're welcome… Did you think about what I said yesterday?" Celia asked softly, remembering what Lana told her.

"Yeah…" Was Rubina's only response.

"Well… What do you say?"

Rubina was silent for a few moments, before turning her head towards the guild master, locking her ruby red eyes with Celia's ocean blue ones. While her face was a little exhausted, her eyes shined with determination, as if she has some goal she had to achieve.

"I accept" she said simply.

Celia smiled, "Well, get dressed then. If you're gonna live here for a while, you might as get familiar. Also, I'm going to need you for some paper work as well…"

Rubina blinked, before nodding her head. Celia then got up and walked to door, "I'll be outside… Take your time" She said, before closing the door.

This chapter was very dialogue heavy, and I hope it felt natural enough. I know not much happened in terms of action, but I felt it important to give some character development. I felt it would be easier to introduce the guild by using third person, rather than first person. I hope the descriptions were good enough, if not, I would appreciate some tips.