Chapter 12
Lucy woke up last. She knew that from the unmade bed opposite hers, where Onix normally slept.
The smell of bacon and eggs wafted through the room when she opened the door to the hallway. Quickly, the blonde descended the stairwell to witness her sisters dancing on tables and eating breakfast. Music blasted it's way out of the windows as she laughed and decided to join in.
Onix smiled at her family as some of them danced whilst others indulged in the wonders of pancakes, eggs, and toast. Carefully, she brought out a mysterious box and set it on the bar counter and turned down the Pussy-Cat Dolls.
"Morning Lucy-Woosy. You're up late" She commented, "Now. I want everyone's attention!"
Painfully slow, the bluette ripped the tape that held the cardboard box closed and out popped styrofoam. Onix reached into it and withdrew an item that looked suspiciously like a guild mark...marker?
"Is that what I think it is?" Venus asked, getting off of the poor furniture. Princess looked up from her shortbread cake as her eyes widened in surprise.
"Miz dat ow mew muild wark?" The pinkette added, her mouth filled to the brim with pudding.
"Yes...Wait, what was your question?" Onix replied, cocking her head to the side allowing her ponytail to swish with her.
Princess gulped, "Is that our new guild mark?" She repeated, making the girls in the room grin with excitement.
"Yip! So...Who's first?"
Lucy stepped beside the bluette who began talking once more, "There's only one problem. This marker only has three colours due to circumstance"
"Well. What are they?" The blonde questioned innocently, swirling a strand of hair around her finger, trying to unknot it.
"Black, Royal and White. The marker tests out how much power you have and decides your place. Are you a down-worlder? Or a saint?"
Lucy held her arm out, revealing the back of her hand where the skin was still ripped from her previous guild mark being pried off. "I'll go first"
The Hex Dispeller nodded before bringing the stamp down on her hand and removing it after two minutes. A collection of swirls was present, it curved and curled to form a rose form the side with gems on each petal. But the strange thing was, if you moved it slightly, the picture would shift into a devils eye with a gem tear.
After each girl had gone, their colours were decided as well as their rank.
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Royal = Lucy and Onix.
White = Princess, Memory, Anya, Liz, Ruki, Rosie, Eden, Iris, Angeline and Venus.
Black = No one.
Explanation of System
(Now, allow me to explain the system. Royal is not a colour, I know, but I'm pretending it's a colour that shifts depending on moods. People who have the Royal colour, are basically the masters of the guild. The others with white guild marks are called "Saints", they are second in charge whilst Black are the average, normal members)
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No one could stop eyeing their guild marks, appreciating the simple art that would decorate their hands for years to come. The doors creaked open as two small girls peeked in, hand-in-hand.
Raising an eyebrow, Iris tapped Onix on the shoulder and gestured to the girls. At first glance they looked completely different, but if you looked closer, immediately you could see they were twins.
"Hello there. Are you two lost?" The Celestial mage asked stepping towards them effortlessly. She received a shake of their brown hair. "My name is Lucy and these are my sisters. If you aren't lost, then why are you here?"
The girl on the left spoke up first, "Um...We...You see...Uh...We heard that this place takes in unwanted people and we wanted to know if you'd let us...join" It came out as a question more than a statement. Anya couldn't help but smile at the brunettes boldness.
"Can you two do magic?" Ruki said popping up behind Lucy.
The girl on the right nodded before looking down to her shoes again. Onix grabbed the stamp and waltzed over to them with Rosie tailing her.
"Sweetie. This is an all-female guild and right now we're collecting mages. Would you like to join?"
Time Skip
Already they had over 70 members. Now that was something to party about. It had been ten months since they'd opened their guild officially and like bees to honey, the girls in the tavern had tracked down a Saint and asked to join. At first, they'd wondered why it was so hard to find where the guild was stationed but after hearing the explanation from one of their two Mistress', it was understandable.
Almost every person in Demon Tears had a story, an unspeakable past and nearly all had a reason to hide from it.
Lucy and Onix stepped out from behind the bar counter and dished up a few drinks as team after team went up to the Job board they'd put up recently. It had been slow at fist, but as soon as word spread about their guild, mission after mission arrived at the post office in Magnolia, RavensCreak and many other places.
Because of the sudden increase in members, the third floor had been converted from the original bedrooms to extra weapons/clothes/make up/shoes (etc) rooms and three dormitories had been built behind the guild itself.
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"Yo Angeline!" Venus called from the second floor railing. The white-haired girl sped up the stairs and came to a halt in front of the more blush-pinkette.
"Yes?"
"Onix wants you to get Lucy and meet her by the pond out back...and she said bring cake" It was quite ironic how one of the two most powerful mages in Demon Tears was just so...so...childish?
Angeline sweat-dropped before grabbing a chocolate cake and walking outside. The layout was simple, behind the guild where two dorms where Black Marks lived and then there was a river which seperated them from the Saint and Mistress' dorm.
Map!
[Guild]
,
[Dorm 1] [Dorm 2]
{ Pond | Bridge | Pond }
,
[Dorm 3]
Worst map ever but it served it's purpose! :D
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Angeline hurried as she crossed over the bridge to where the two other girls were sitting crossed legged, staring up at the clouds over head.
"Um, I'm here" She announced, still holding the cake which would disappear soon.
Onix bolted up smiling, "Great, You purify things right?"
Nodding, Angeline took a slice of the cake and popped it in her mouth, savouring the sweet yet bitter taste.
"Good. You see, me and Lucy were talking and we decided to gather up empty gate keys and hex them so they'd hold a different demon" The bluette explained as if it where the most normal thing in the world.
"Are you insane!?"
Shaking her head, Onix gave a small smile, "No, but we're gonna need all of the power we can get and that creature in her black key can take out anything"
Confused, the white-haired girl wrinkled her eyebrows, "Why would we need that?"
Lucy grinned madly whilst giggling slightly.
"Because, we're entering the Guild Tournaments!"
There you have it! The moment of truth will come soon!
I just wanted to let you know that my computer is being taken in for repairs and I won't get it back for at most, 4 days. So I'll be AFK for a while.
Anyway, thanks for reading! I'll see you soon!
-Kai-Chan!