The long hallway Kazro and Erza had been traversing came to an end and opened up into a large multilevel cavern. The two approached the edge of the floor they were on and looked down. Several levels down stood a stone pedestal bathed in light from outside with a metallic cube resting on top of it. Kazro looked at the clumn of light filtering into the chamber and extinguished his torch. A couple hours had passed since him and Erza had entered the ruins but he had no idea of telling exactly how many. He looked over the edge again and frowned. It was too far down to jump without the risk of breaking any bones.

He turned back to Erza with a sigh. "We'll have to find another way down. And if this place is similar to other ruins near here it'll take us a while. Those Nirvit were always too damn proud of their stonework."

"Nirvit? How can you tell?" Erza asked as she raised an eyebrow.

Kazro walked past her and motioned for the redhead to follow. He didn't look back as he spoke and his voice echoed softly off the walls. "For starters, it's the location and the style of the engravings in the walls. Also, they had a tendency to create things that no mortal should ever control. I've heard rumors of some kind of emotional control device that was found near here but I'm pretty sure it was destroyed by a group of mages some years back."

Erza cringed slightly. "It was an alliance of legal guilds against Oracion Seis."

"Oracion Seis, huh? A handful of dark guilds tried taking their place in the Baram Alliance soon after they were disbanded." Kazro nonchalantly stated.

"I never heard about any of that. What happened to them?"

"Me and two other mages. We also mopped up the remains of Grimoire Heart after they got their asses handed to them on some island in the middle of the ocean."

Erza could sense small traces of pride in Kazro's voice as he spoke. The fights Oracion Seis and Grimoire Heart had almost killed her and everyone else involved and she shuddered slightly as the memories of those two dark guilds surfaced. She quickly shoved those memories aside and brought her focus back to the task at hand. Her focus shifted to Kazro again. She caught a glimpse of a contented smile on his face as he craned his neck around to look at the engravings that weren't covered by moss.

The two mages soon found themselves at the bottom floor of the chamber and were able to finally get a full view of the pedestal. It stood at waist height and a stone serpent snaked it's way in a spiral from the floor to the top. On the top of the pedestal, rested the artifact that needed to be destroyed. It was still bathed in the light that poured in from the opening in the ceiling. Kazro approached it with his boots plodding softly against the stone floor. He picked up the artifact and was surprised by how light it was. A metal cube no bigger than his fist, intricately engraved and inlaid with sapphires, rubies and emeralds. Erza approached the silver-eyed man and stared in wonder at the object in his right hand.

Kazro let out a soft whistle began to think out loud. "All these years and it's still here. How?"

His question was soon answered by a series of stone slabs falling to the ground, revealing a small army of mummified corpses that stepped into view of the two mages. One of them stepped forth, closer to Kazro and Erza than the others and began addressing them in a gutteral language that the redhead could not understand. Her eyes widened slightly in shock at the sight before her. She had never seen something remotely close to this in her time as a wizard. Her confusion deepened slightly when she heard a chuckle coming from Kazro.

"So that's how." Kazro looked over his should at Erza and continued. "Get ready. These must be the guardians."

Before Erza could react Kazro's fist had become engulfed in flames and he had launched himself towards the undead that stood in front of them. Erza quickly followed suit and summoned a pair of blades to her hands and began cutting down the surging army that laid claim to the ruins. The two mages cut a swath of mangled body parts throughout the chamber and within minutes they were the only ones left standing. Neither of them had broken a sweat but could hear rumblings coming from corners of the ruins that were still shrouded in darkness. Their work was not quite done yet.

"How do they just keep on coming?" Erza asked in exasperation.

"Might have something to do with the relic." Kazro answered flatly.

He looked at the cube once more in an attempt to find a weak spot in it. He turned it over quickly in his hands and found an indention in one of the six sides. He paused and got a closer look at it. Parts of the metal latticework had been chipped away at some point in the past. He held his index finger near the dent and focused his magic into it. Cracks began to appear on the rest of the device and it began to softly glow with the shade of green that matched Kazro's flames. The Exorcist focused more of his magic into the cube and it finally shattered, sending small pieces of shrapnel flying within a small radius of where the cube had been. With the cube shattered, all that remained was to finish off the remnants of undead still advancing.

"Enough of this. By fire be purged! Rulag mol tor viir!" As Kazro finished the incantation a torrent of flames erupted from his mouth, turning the remaining guardians into ash in a dazzling display of emerald destruction.

The rumbling that had been reverberating throughout the ruins had ceased as soon as the relic was shattered and an eerie quiet had settled in the chamber. The stillness was broken by a resounding crash of parts of the structure beginning to cave in on itself. Erza and Kazro quickly exchanged glances and began running to the exit, dodging falling debris when they could and blasting their way through the rest.

They reached the outside world and were greeted by the sun still hanging high in the air. The entrance to the ruins crumbled to the ground shortly after the two mages had made it to the safety in the swamp they had trudged through several hours earlier. Their breathing was ragged as they tried to catch their wind again and looked back at the mass of stones that had just barely come down on top of them.

The sound of slow clapping caught their attention and the Knight and the Exorcist were greeted by a man with sunken amber eyes, a bald head and lithe build. The newcomer approached them, still clapping and had no traces of dirt on his black suit and red tie despite having to trudge through the swamp. Kazro narrowed his eyes and stepped between the suited man and Erza. The man stopped twenty feet from the two Fairy Tail mages and folded his arms over his chest and let a sly grin play across his face.

"I just had to see for myself. To think that the infamous Scourge of Fiore would have joined a legal guild." The man spoke with a tone that made Erza's skin crawl and she could feel sweat bead up on her neck when the man's gaze shifted to her. "And it's Fairy Tail, no less. The Council would be interested in hearing this." He ended his musing with a slight chuckle.

"You've got a lot of fucking nerve to show your face around me, n'wah." Kazro growled.

"Come now, Fhlosten. Is that any way to talk to an old friend of yours?" The bald man was still grinning.

"Shut up, Torrin. Why the hell are you even here?" Kazro spat through a sneer.

The man known as Torrin reached into his suit jacket and pulled out a plain, white envelope. A magic circle appeared in Torrin's hand and the envelope floated lazily over to Kazro who then opened it to inspect the contents. It was filled almost to its breaking point with the payment for destroying the relic. A chuckle could be heard coming from his throat.

"Oh? When did they demote you to simple courier?" Kazro asked snidely.

"Enough of the snark, Exorcist." Torrin's demeanor changed to a more serious tone. "That two year spree you went on sent several of the more dangerous dark guilds in the country into hiding, so the Council has given me more of the day to day tasks."

Kazro scoffed and made no effort to hide the fact that he was annoyed. "Are you done? If so, then we're leaving."

Kazro turned his back to Torrin and walked past Erza, motioning for her to follow. A scowl had found Kazro's face when he realized he might have to fill the redhead in about some of the inner workings of the magic underworld. They began to trudge through the swamp back to the road that led to Cyprus, occasionally swatting or incinerating a mosquito that got too close.

During the trek back to Cyprus several questions kept pawing at Erza's mind. She had no idea who this Torrin guy was but she caught a glimpse of a pendant that only Council representatives possess so it was clear he was associated in some way. It was also clear that Kazro knew him and the two obviously had a bad history with each other. She was about to open her mouth to ask Kazro about him but stopped when she remembered that Fairy Tail's newest member had a bad habit of dodging or flat out ignoring questions about his past.

'I doubt even Master Makarov was able to get much information out of him.' She thought to herself.

They sun had started to descend and fade from the sky as they finally arrived at the main road that would take them directly to Cyprus and hopefully a hotel. The sun didn't exactly beat down on them, but being in such close proximity to a very adept fire mage had left her soaked from the combination of having to fight off a legion of undead and the subsequent sprint to escape the collapsing ruins. That was another thing that held her curiosity. His magic. They were several paces apart but she could still feel traces of the heat radiating from him.

'What I saw against those guardians would put his strength on par with Natsu's, but he didn't even break a sweat. Then there was that time Laxus and I found him in the East Forest a month ago and for a while he seemed close to Gildarts' level.' She almost shuddered at the last thought. The last thing she needed was to be responsible for a man who could easily destroy

She finally decided to break the silence between herself and the silver-eyed man. "Kazro. Who was that guy waiting for us?"

"That deconstructed welp was Torrin. And the less you have to deal with him, the better." He didn't look back towards Erza as he spoke. "He's usually the one that posts jobs that involve taking out dark guilds that get careless and make the mistake of announcing their existence."

"So how do you know him?"

Kazro slowed down slightly to let the redhead catch up with him. He looked over at her and waited till she made eye contact before continuing. "He would come to us for the dark guilds that were either harder to find or more dangerous. Something they wouldn't risk sending to a legal guild."

"So they would send impossible missions to independent guilds?" She received a simple nod. "Why?"

Kazro cleared his throat and began reaching around in his backpack for something. "Liability. If a legal guild starts a war with a dark guild and loses, it makes the Council look bad and gives them the joy of having to explain it away to the rest of the guild masters. They'd also be partially responsible for any property damage. But if that same mission goes to an independent guild, they don't have that hassle and it's no skin off their backs if the job ends in failure. Even then, they'd still try to tie our hands up with their own set of rules."

"What kind of rules?" She was actually taken aback that she had even received an answer, let alone several in a row. The thought that Kazro might have been warming up to her began to worm its way into her head.

"The usual gamut of taking them alive and trying not to destroy half a city."

"And what if you couldn't?" Erza almost hesitated to ask this question but she had to know more.

"Like I said, no skin off their backs for loss of life or collateral damage." His eyes still held their usual intensity as he effectively ended the topic of their conversation.

Erza's gaze shifted to the horizon. The sun was setting to her right and cast streaks of brilliant pink and orange in the sky as they weaved in and out of the few puffy clouds that hung in the air. The town of Cyprus had begun to appear in between the tops of trees lining the main road and the blaring of horns could just barely be heard resonating from the train station in the center of town. The sound of a lighter opening, igniting, and closing interrupted the quiet that had settled over her and the fire mage and was quickly followed by the potent smell of smoldering tobacco. She glanced to her left to see Kazro exhaling a plume of smoke that lazily drifted into the air.

"You know that can kill you, right?" Erza began to playfully tease.

Kazro chuckled softly. "Not the first time I've been told something could kill me." A slight grin played across his face.

The chuckle and tone of his voice caught Erza off guard. She had seen him smile a handful of times when she had spotted him and Makarov talking, but they were more in the nature of remembrance and mixed with tinges of sadness. In the short time he had been in the guild, Erza really only saw him talk to the old master in depth and Wendy for the part she played in his recovery. Either way, she could tell that he kept his guard up to the same extent she had in the past. She wanted to know more about him but didn't want to spoil the comfortable atmosphere between her Kazro.

They walked into the terminal at the station and paid for their tickets and took their spots on a simple wooden bench near the platform. Kazro shifted in his spot and started to run back over the conversation and growled softly when he pictured the bald man's face. His brooding ceased when he noticed that two other people had joined him and Erza on the bench. It was the two mages that had shared a train cabin with on the way to Cyprus.

"I'm guessing the two of you have finished your job as well?" Erza addressed the two newcomers.

"Yep! Things are so much easier when somebody just needs a good beating." The pink-haired man exclaimed with a childish grin.

"Natsu, you ended up destroying most of what the rune knights asked you not to." The blonde sighed with exasperation.

"It's not my fault they were weak, Lucy. They should have been able to at least put up something resembling a fight." Natsu retorted.

Kazro looked over at the Dragon Slayer and Celestial Spirit mages. The two had a couple scrapes and bruises on their arms but nothing that would merit immediate medical attention. He noticed Lucy whispering something to Erza which was quickly followed by her shaking her head and laughing slightly. The two female mages then began whispering to each other and would stop every so often to steal glances at the two Slayer mages with them.

"So." Kazro's attention was grabbed by the pinkette who was now standing in front of him. "What kind of magic do you use?"

The blunt and straight forward question had caused Erza and Lucy to cease their hushed conversation and turn to the two men in their group. Lucy's brown eyes darted back and forth between the two fire mages and took in their expressions. Natsu's face held nothing but simple curiosity. For some reason, however, she was unable to get a read on Kazro's almost blank expression. Erza had turned to watch the conversation as well. She knew that Kazro was a fire mage of some type, but she had never seen or felt flames remotely similar to his.

Kazro sighed. He knew it was a matter of time before he would have to tell other people in the guild, aside from Makarov, about the nature of his magic but he was hoping that he would be able to dodge or dance around the question for a little longer. Erza, on the other hand, was hoping she would finally learn what his magic type really was.

"Fire Exorcism." Kazro answered flatly.

"Exor-what?" The response from Natsu caused Kazro to recoil slightly and he could hear a small giggle coming from the blonde.

"Exorcism, Natsu. It's a type of holy magic." Lucy stated.

Kazro's raised an eyebrow slightly at the blonde. "So you know of it?"

Lucy shook her head slightly. "I've read bits and pieces about it but from what I remember, it's used to fight against beings from the underworld."

"That's correct." Kazro affirmed the blonde.

"So you can use fire? What do your flames taste like?' Natsu asked with a glint in his eye.

The question was one that caught the Exorcist off guard. He had never been asked that, mainly because he had never fought against a being that was able to consume flames. Their conversation abruptly ended by the approaching rumble of the train set to ferry them back to Magnolia. The four Fairy Tail mages shuffled onto the train and into a private cabin and plopped down to the seat in a collection of sighs from the three that didn't suffer from motion induced sickness. Lucy and Natsu quickly fell asleep before the train had departed, leaving Kazro and Erza as the only two still awake.

"Kazro, there's something I've been wanting to know about you." Erza stated with a curious look.

"Hmm?" Kazro looked over at the redhead not knowing what she was about to ask.

"When you use magic, you speak in a language that's harsh and abrasive. It almost sounds demonic, as if the voice doesn't even belong to you. Why is that?"

Kazro sighed audibly. He had a feeling that he was going to be asked that question eventually. It was not a matter of if, but when. He paused as he tried to figure out the right way of wording his response without revealing too much about it. These people may be his new family, but he was still wary of others out of a mixture of habit and instinct. An instinct for survival that had been honed since he was barely a teenager.

"It's a dialect of the ancient language spoken in Acherus, the realm of the dead." He answered.

The answer Erza had received had only just agitated her curiosity. She glanced over at Kazro again only to find him with his head against the wall and his eyes closed. There were still several questions that she wanted to ask him about his magic. She could tell that it was powerful and it shared some qualities of the Dragon Slayers that she knew as well as the few God Slayers that she had seen fight. She closed her eyes and brushed an armored hand through her hair. If this man will not answer her directly, then perhaps the guild master would be able to provide some answers. Either way, her next conversation with Makarov would have to wait till she got back to the guildhall in the morning. She then rested her head and watched as the twilight bathed landscape passed by until her eyelids grew too heavy to keep open.


Alright, guys. Sorry this chapter took so long. It was a mix of laziness and trying to figure out how what direction(s) I wanted to take it. I'm planning on throwing some more character development in with the next chapter, but I have no idea when I'll get around to starting on it. Let me know what you thought about this shit-tier fanfic.