I noticed that in one of the reviews that the OCs have eerily similar names to those in the game The Last Story. Let me point out that it was purely coincidence, I swear! While I have played the game and do own it, I haven't played it in a long, long time. I was aware that the main character's name was Zael when I named my OC, but when I was looking up a name for Callista I completely forgot her that was the female lead's name, too. I was only looking up names on Google for both of these OCs, but thankfully they have completely different personalities and story arcs… I hope. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy!

Zale was riding a train to Hargeon for his next job where he was tasked with taking out a slave ship. Unfortunately, he had left before he could meet the guild's newest member, but was anxious to meet him or her when he got back to Magnolia. After he got off the train, he met with the client to discuss the details of the job. The client told him that the slave ship would likely have a large number of female passengers on it, so when he got to the harbor that was the first thing he went to look for.

"All right…" Zale muttered to himself. "Now I just have to wait and think… Now that I think about it, how come I don't have a cool nickname like Natsu and Erza do? You know what? After this job, people will be calling me something cool just like with them! The question is: What should my nickname be? That is, if I have any say in the decision. For all I know, the public seems to be responsible for their names. Oh, God, I hope they don't give me a lame nickname like Water Boy… I'd never hear the end of it… Gah, stop focusing on this! I should be strategizing, not getting caught up in something as frivolous as a nickname!"

After regaining his composure, Zale continued watching the harbor for a few minutes.

"… Nothing suspicious right now… Maybe I have some time to think about who the new guild member might be. I don't know much about him or her. Erza was very sketchy with the details. I think she said it was a kid… Hmm, that reminds me of when I first came to the guild and we were all kids. Without a home or family to call our own until we came to the guild."

Grrrrrumble…

"I'm getting kind of hungry. I probably shouldn't move from this spot, though…"

Grrrrrrrumble…

"… Maybe I'll just get something to go."

After acquiring a couple loaves of bread from the market, he returned to the harbor to see that nothing had changed.

"Maybe I'm just really early." He said to himself before taking a bite out of the bread.

Hours had passed and night had already fallen upon the port town. A ship pulled in and many young women could be seen on it, so Zale knew that this must have been the ship mentioned in the job request.

"Alright, now how shall I approach this?" Zale wondered.

About an hour later, the boat left the docks and began to move out toward the sea. Some of the slavers were in the captain's quarters.

"We may have failed a few months back, but Salamander is nowhere to be found." Bora said.

"Are you sure, Bora?" One of his henchmen asked.

"While I've gotten stronger since then, my magic is useless when my opponent can eat it." Bora replied.

Another henchman came into the quarters.

"Bora, all the women have been drugged and are sleeping as we speak."

"Good." Bora said. "Bound and gag them before they wake up."

While some of the henchmen were out on the deck to pick up the unconscious women, several tentacles made out of black water wrapped around each of their legs and pulled them off the ship and into the sea.

"WAAAAH!" They all screamed.

"What's going on out here?" Bora asked as he and a couple other henchmen came out onto the docks.

However, there was nothing else could be seen on the docks except for the drugged women. Bora leered back and forth across the docks.

"… Something suspicious is going on here…" Bora said. "Keep your eyes out meEEEEEEEN!"

Bora suddenly got dragged by another black tentacle while the other two henchmen were pulled into the sea. However, the tentacle holding Bora lowered itself so that Zale was looking at him while standing on a fountain of black water that helped him to stand on the ocean.

"Aren't you that idiot Natsu beat up a few months ago?" Zale asked. "Don't you know that crime never pays?"

"P-please don't kill me!" Bora pleaded.

"I wouldn't kill you." Zale said. "Heck, I didn't even kill your men."

"I'll pay you anything to let me go!"

"After what you did to these women, I don't think so."

Zale used the tentacles to throw Bora and his men all the way to shore where several people were gathered, including the town guard. They all looked to see Zale approach the shore with the fountain of water keeping him afloat until he reached dry land.

"Wow…" One of the women in the crowd said. "It's like he's the king of the sea…"

"Like Neptune?"

*Neptune?* Zale thought. *If that's what people are going to call me, I'm definitely not going to complain.*

After claiming his reward, Zale made his way back home to Magnolia.

"I can't wait to tell Juvia and the others about the job." Zale said to himself. "I also can't wait to meet our newest guild member."

He stopped in his tracks when he saw that Magnolia was replaced by a barren wasteland with bubbles floating from the ground, an overcast of dark clouds and a vortex in the sky.

"… What the hell happened here?" Zale gasped.

A/N: I decided to keep this one short and give a start to the Edolas arc. I hope you all enjoyed it! Stay tuned for next time!