A/N: Finally the last introduction chapter is out. Sorry this one took longer than usual. Actually, I had finished writing this chapter already but my laptop decided to die on me before I could post it. Essentially I lost all my documents. So, I had to redo everything, FROM SCRATCH. While it was a pain in the ass, I still managed to finish it.
All character in the story will be introduced thus far. If your character did not appear yet, it either means you have failed to meet certain requirements of mine or I just have plans for them to enter the guild later on.
Special thanks to KingKatsu, Elegant Soul and OleanderBleedingHeart for updating me on some of the errors I have made in my writing of their OCs.
Additional credit to Elegant Soul for providing me with some inspiration on coming up with some chapters that talk about the history of the characters and probably how the teams were formed.
Also, after reading the reviews and asking some of you, I have decided to do the dark guild arc first. Before you guys ask anything, Dark Guild OC submissions are only open from next chapter onwards.
As usual, lots of love to all my reviewers.
OleanderBleedingHeart: Glad I managed to portray Scar right. I thought it would be good to show her soft side since no one is completely rigid in terms of personality.
Reven228: Thanks for the support!
KingKatsu: Sorry about that :P The changes will be made ASAP
Arclin: Well I guess I'm a wizard haha, I was thinking exactly of the same thing when I was writing Scar. Zion will definitely be showcased more. Slayer magic is so fun to work with
NovaChrono: Thanks for the opinion!
Anim8or: Thank you; I'll keep doing my best.
Origm2012: Yup I agree. Not every mission has to end badly or with an explosion. It would be nice to see a change every now and then. I thought Sub-Zero would be a good name for them, since most of the mages used ice or ice related magic with the exception of Chantal. There would be more missions to come for sure. So keep reading and find out
Credits
Neel Pax – anim8or
Gemma Tyson – cherryblossoms redwillow
Shinji Tengoku – reven228
Judar Alibaba - derekjay2000
I do not own Fairy Tail, except my OCs
Enjoy!
Guild Hall
"Boring, boring, boring!" whined a mage as she repeated bashed her fists against the bar table. She had just returned from a mission but was already aching for some action. She hated to stand still, preferring to run about and be in open spaces. She had asked the guild earlier if anyone wanted to train with her, but they all declined, busy doing their own things.
"Come on Seras, just one mission please," she batted her eyelashes at Seras as she pleaded. "I promise Master Glaive won't find out!" The mage had a relatively small figure, standing at 5'3 with little curves to it. She had messy, bright golden blonde hair that reached down to nearly her mid-back, and had countless layers of various lengths cut throughout it. Despite its appearance, it was not thick, but instead wispy and soft, and wavy a bit toward the end of each layer. Her bangs were sideswept towards the right, coming down to her cheekbone as her hair was parted toward the left. They had a tendency to fall into her eyes, which were round, and incredibly bright yellowy-amber in colour, ringed with black, long eyelashes. Her pale skin was considered perfect by many, with the exception of the scars on her arms and on her right ankle. She was wearing a ratty purple long-sleeved t-shirt that was way too big for her size. As such, the sleeves always seemed to drape over her hands and the lavender guild mark between her shoulder blades was easily visible from the back. Under that, she wore faded blue jeans and white sneakers.
"You know I can't do that Neel," Seras apologised to the pouting mage. "Even if you didn't say anything, Father would still find out when he reads the registry."
"But things are so dry around here! No one is doing anything!" Neel protested as she slouched over the bar. Even Seras had to agree with Neel on that. Usually the guild was noisy and brimming with activities, but today things seemed to be going on at a very slow pace. The mages present were all busy minding their own business instead of making a ruckus as they always did.
Aiden and Zion were in the middle of an arm wrestling match. While it was obvious that Aiden had the upper hand, Zion refused to give in, sweating profusely as he tried to match Aiden's superior arm strength.
Blitz was in the midst of tinkering away with his lacrima tools, holding a magnifying glass and a blowtorch in his hands. He was currently working on timing the explosions of his explosive lacrima and as such he needed absolute concentration. So, he decided to wear a set of earplugs to keep the noise out while he did his work.
Yami, Asuna, Klein and Otis were all at another table, playing a game of Blackjack. Next to them was Vento, watching intently as he wondered how the game was being played. In the middle of the table lay a deck of cards as well as a pile of money. By the looks of things, it seemed that Klein was on a winning streak.
"How do you win?" Vento asked aloud as he tried to figure out the rules to the game.
"Well, in this game the cards in your hand have to add up to 21 points. Each picture card such as a jack is worth 10 points while an Ace is worth 1 or 11 points depending on your hand. You win automatically when the cards in your hand add up to just nice 21 points but you also lose immediately if your hand exceeds 21 points." Explained Otis as he showed his hand to Vento – a queen and a seven
"Oh I see," Vento said, having caught on to the rules of the game. With that he went about to the other players, wondering what cards they had in their hands.
Yami had his brows furrowed at the moment. In his hand was a jack and a 6 and he was contemplating whether he should draw another card. He was close to going bust and he did not know whether he should take the risk.
Meanwhile, Klein and Asuna both sat comfortably in their chairs, confident that their hand would guarantee them a win. Asuna held a pair of 10s while Klein had an Ace and a 9. Little did they know that both of them had the same number of points.
Zephyr was at the end of the guild hall, staring at his own reflection in the mirror as he admired the new electric blue sweat pants he had bought yesterday.
"Snazzy," he remarked as he ran his hand up and down the silky material. Damn, he knew how to choose a good set of clothing
"Nerys, save me! I need entertainment!" Neel drawled as she grabbed Nerys, who was sitting next to her, by the arm. Nerys sighed as well. She could barely think of anything at the moment. Even she was starting to get affected by the drowsy atmosphere the guild was giving off. Her eyes glazed over the guild hall, wondering what she should do.
Then, a light bulb went off in her head and a devious smirk formed on her lips, much to the puzzlement of Seras and Neel.
"Watch this," she said as she hopped off her seat. She stomped her feet into the ground, a blue magic circle appearing below her feet. In a split second, she vanished. And in the next, she was back and holding something in her hand.
Zephyr's new pants.
Neel instantly covered her mouth to prevent herself from bursting out in laughter while Seras covered her eyes. Some things were just not meant to be seen. "Time for the show to begin!" snickered Nerys as she threw the pants behind the bar to hide the evidence.
"SWEET MOTHER OF GOD!" hollered Zephyr as he stared downwards. One moment he was admiring the pants he had bought and in the next, he was gaping at the white boxers that he wore underneath them.
"DAMMIT BLITZ! GIVE THEM BACK!" he shouted towards the mage. As Zephyr had not met Nerys or her magic yet, there was only one culprit in his mind. The only mage who could use warp magic.
Unfortunately for Zephyr and Blitz, he could not hear a single word that Zephyr said, the earplugs proving to be useful at the wrong time. Zephyr immediately misunderstood, thinking that the mage was denying any participation in the prank. He crouched into a hunter's crouch, allowing magic to pump into legs and feet as a silver magic circle appeared beneath them.
"Speed Magic: Axel Crash!" he cried as he propelled himself straight towards Blitz, launching a round house kick that had trailing streaks of red.
The attack hit Blitz squarely in the side of his head, sending him spiralling into the nearby wall with a resounding crash.
"What the heck!" Blitz growled as he got up from the rubble. One moment he was looking at the lacrima, the next he saw his face hit a wall. That was totally uncalled for.
"Give them back!" Zephyr cried as he rushed at Blitz, magic pulsing through his arms this time. In an instant, he launched a wave of punches at Blitz who had no choice but to guard with his arms.
While Zephyr's blows weren't all that powerful, having something strike multiple times a second was proving to be very annoying at the least. "Go screw yourself!" Blitz retorted as he warped directly above Zephyr and drop kicked him on the head. Zephyr was stunned instantly, standing still but not for long as Blitz warped again and punched him right in the cheek. That sent him flying into the table where Aiden and Zion were.
Both mages leapt out of the way as Zephyr crashed headlong into the table, shattering it on impact. Zion cursed silently as he really wanted to win that match. But then again, another opportunity had just presented itself.
"Alrighty then! If it's a fight you want, it's a fight you'll get!" he declared with a grin on his face. Lava began to flow over and cover his hands as he held them up, allowing the lava to congregate into a large ball. "Magma God's Incinerator!" he commanded as he prepared to hurl the large boiling mass, his target no doubt to be Blitz.
Blitz threw a light lacrima at the instant Zion announced his spell, causing the room to glow very brightly.
"Shit!" Zion cursed as he was blinded but he threw the lava ball nonetheless, fully intent on hitting Blitz.
Too bad it flew to the other table.
Four pairs of eyes widened as the lump of lava landed right smack over the table, incinerating instantly and anything that was on it. But for two mages, the heartache was real.
"My cards!" Yami despaired as he watched helplessly as his favourite deck went up into flames.
"My money!" Klein screeched. There went his rent fees for the month.
"Dammit Molten-Drool! Are you nuts, burning money in a recession!" Klein growled in anger as ice began to coat over his fists. Using the chair as a springboard, he jumped into the air as a light blue magic circle coated his arms.
"Frost Fangs of the Ice Dragon!" He roared as ice blades extended from his elbows all the way to his wrists. Bringing them up in an X formation, he swiped both his arms to unleash a wave of ice energy towards Zion.
"You wanna go Ice-Brain," Zion chuckled as he fired off a stream of lava to counter the wave of ice, releasing an explosion of steam when the two elements collided. Just as the steam cleared, Klein appeared and swung his frost blades downwards to which Zion hardened the lava on his hands and countered the blow.
"Now this is a riot!" chuckled Aiden as he grabbed a near unconscious Zephyr from the table rubble. Poised like a javelin thrower, he called out "HUMAN CANNONBALL!" and hurled Zephyr in the direction of Otis.
Otis simply smirked as he let his body become intangible. Zephyr passed right through him and landed smack into the chest of Asuna.
"So soft…" Zephyr muttered as he squeezed something which made Asuna's face glow red with embarrassment and rage.
"Pevert!" she hissed as she formed a silver whip. She then tied it around the neck of Zephyr and hurled him yet again, this time towards Blitz. When she was done, she loaded her bow with two silver arrows and fired them at Otis, snarling "This is your fault!"
"Nope it's not!" Otis grinned as he created a small cyclone with the swipe of his hand, sending the arrows off course. One towards Yami and the other to Vento.
"What the," Yami protested as he watched the arrow zero in on him. "Shadow Replica!" he called out as a dark wave appeared from beneath his feet and absorbed the projectile before firing off another dozen in the direction of Aiden's table.
"Eeeep! Mirror Magic, Deflection!" Vento squealed as he hid behind a magic mirror which changed the arrow's trajectory, causing it to chase after Zephyr instead.
Klein and Zion were in the midst of clobbering each other with blows of magma and ice when they saw the impending storm of shadowy projectiles. Both mages ended up doing a frenzied dance as they tried to avoid getting impaled by the rain of arrows. When they were done with that, they both were positioned awkwardly, like a cross between a bear and a flamingo.
"DON"T INTERFERE!" both of them called out in unison, preparing to attack Yami instead. But Aiden wouldn't let them. With a swing of his mighty forearms, he sent both Klein and Zion into the roof, causing the ceiling to crack slightly while the mages laid there twitching.
"Come on Otis! Let's rumble!" Aiden roared as he slammed his fists together, totally mistaking the attack to have come from Otis.
"You're on!" Otis accepted the challenge and cracked his knuckles. Even though he wasn't the one that did that, his battle hungry personality found it hard to decline a challenge. With that, both men began to run towards each other
Meanwhile, Blitz just simply sidestepped and warped out of the way as he dodged the human projectile called Zephyr. For the second time that day, Zephyr crashed into a wall but this time, he was pinned there by the arrow which followed him and embedded itself into his boxers.
"Too easy," Blitz remarked as he warped into existence again. That was before he realised where he had teleported to.
Right in between Otis and Aiden's fists.
"Fudgebuckets," Blitz just had enough time to curse before two overwhelming pressures slammed into either side of his face, knocking him unconscious. He literally floated to the ground, waving a white flag. The two S-class mage just had puzzled looks on their faces, no knowing why Blitz had decided to act as a punching bag.
All this time, Neel, Nerys and Seras had all taken refuge behind the bar. While Neel and Nerys were cackling with laughter, Seras was cringing internally. There was a lot of clean up to be done and she was pretty sure her Father wasn't going to be pleased.
Then, the guild doors burst open and every mage in the room just froze right there, panicking if Master Glaive had returned.
Luckily for them, it was just Coraline and some mage that no one recognized. Most of the mages heaved a huge sigh of relief at this point, glad that they were still safe for the time being.
"What happened here!" shrieked Coraline as she stared in dismay at the utter disarray the guild was in currently. This was not the image she wanted to present to the newcomer. "Have you buffoons forgotten the guild rules again? Something along the lines of, please spar in the courtyard?"
"Whoopsies," Nerys whispered, her tongue sticking out in a comical manner as she failed to recall what Seras had told her the day earlier.
Cora just face palmed herself. She was gonna have a lot of work to do later. Particularly in the treatment department.
"Does this happen a lot?" the unknown mage asked. The mage had a small build, like that of a gymnast and stood at about 5'1. Her straight black shoulder length hair was pushed back with a red headband to prevent it from falling over her amber eyes. The pair of silver dragon ear-cuffs that she wore as earrings stood out the most. She had slightly pale skin that was covered in scars along the back and upper thighs, though it was current not visible. She was wearing black knee-high boots and thigh-highs with a black and red miniskirt. For her top, a red straight across strapless shirt cut off mid-chest, and a black vest.
"Well, not really." Replied Cora, though she wasn't really sure herself. There were times whereby the guild was on its best behaviour and there were times whereby they all just let loose without a care to the world. She had lost count of which happened more.
"Aw shucks. I was hoping I could join in too," the newcomer pouted, causing a sweat drop to fall from Cora.
"Hello there, my name is Seras and welcome to Scarlet Nova," Seras said as she emerged from the back of the bar. "Are you here to join?"
"Yup, my name is Gemma and I have travelled all the way from Magnolia in search of a guild." Gemma said as she introduced herself.
"How did you come to know of us?" Seras asked upon hearing that Gemma came over from Magnolia. She was pretty sure that Magnolia had bigger guilds like Lamia Scale and Blue Pegasus, so why join them?
"Well, you could say that I don't really have a preference for mainstream guilds. So I decided to go somewhere else. I heard that there was a recently established guild here in Valgore, so I decided to try my luck." Gemma smiled.
"Oh I see. So where would you like your guild mark?" Seras asked, her chop in her hand.
"Red and on my torso please," Gemma lifted her shirt slightly, allowing Seras to imprint the guild mark. There was the sizzling of magic and when removed, the guild mark of Scarlet Nova shone brightly.
"You are now an official member of the guild, so welcome." Seras said with a bright smile.
"Cool, this is rad!" Gemma commented as she examined her new guild mark. Meanwhile the other guild members were cheering, happy that they had some fresh blood to the guild.
All of a sudden, there was a loud ripping sound. All eyes turned to the source of the sound, staring intently at Zephyr's boxers which had started to rip.
"OH MUTHAFU…" came a few voices just as his boxers tore free of their restraint.
At that moment, the phrase "MY EYES! THEY BURN!" wasn't so overrated anymore.
Magic Council, Ea
Having received the message from the magic council, Glaive and a small team of mages had arrived at Ea. Unlike Valgore, Ea was the home ground of the Rune Knights and there were absolutely no guilds in the vicinity at all. Ea mainly relied on the Rune Knights as a security force within the town, something that Glaive was not very comfortable with.
Even so, Glaive still found it nostalgic. It had been almost 10 years since he last step foot into this place. While he had attended the regular guild masters gathering at Clover Town, he never expected himself to return to his old working place. Especially not under these conditions. As he and his team of mages walked through the long hallways leading to the artefact room, Glaive took his time to take in the all-too-familiar sights and sounds of the place. It was right here 10 years ago that he left Fairy Tail, leading to the birth of Scarlet Nova. While he may have missed his old guild, Glaive did not regret his decision.
Beside him were Ryuga and Scar. They too were having a trip down memory lane, though it was quite obvious that theirs wasn't as pleasant. Ryuga's eyes were narrowed while Scar's face was darker than usual. They had a bad past with the Magic Council and being in the building was putting a damper on their spirits. Their past wasn't one that they were proud of but even so, Glaive had still agreed to take them under his wing despite all the criticism he faced. While they were difficult to get along with initially, time eventually revealed their true forms. They had become something that Glaive held dear to his heart and people that he could trust apart from his own family. Even if the request did not depict he bring along those involved in the incident, he would have brought both of them here anyways.
The third mage lingered at the back of the group. He felt oddly out of place compared to the three in front of him. For one, they were all stronger than he was. For another, they had some kind of bond that he just did not know how to put into words. This mage stood at around 6'2, having broad shoulders and a slightly muscular build. He had wild bright blond hair that was kept rather short so as to keep it out of his eyes. His bright blue eyes which usually held a mischievous glint to them were now dull with boredom and unrest. His skin had a nice tan to it from his time outdoors and several scars on his torso from fights' he had gotten into over the years. One scar was the most prominent, being rather vicious and right along the jugular of his neck. This one throbbed in pain as he kept walking down the endless hallway but he kept it to himself. He had on a pair of cream coloured pants which pooled on his mint green sneakers. Two black belts extended from his pants, crossing and forming an X around his waist. For his top, he just wore a simple blue long sleeved button up shirt. By his two sides were two gun holsters. One of them was particularly larger than the average holster used to store magic guns whereas the other was slightly smaller than usual.
While the mage was usually very social, he found it difficult to speak with Ryuga and Scar. It was the same for how a thief would find it difficult to talk to a cop even after turning over a new leaf. This was rather apt for his situation when one considered the context. The artefact that they were on their way to confirm, he was the one that was asked to steal it 5 years ago. He and his brother were tasked by their family to recover the artefact from a ruin deep in the mountain. By some coincidence or luck, the ones sent to retrieve from Scarlet Nova were none other than Ryuga and Scar. His brother had attempted to kill him, slashing him at the neck when he was considered deadweight. The mage thought he was going to die, until Ryuga and Scar came along. Both of them had caught up and made quick work of his brother, before returning to save his life. Without them, he would have been a dead man and although he had tried to express his thanks many times, he would always end up stuttering or the words failing to leave his mouth. That had been the way between them for the past 5 years.
As the group of Scarlet Nova mages walked down the hallways, most attendants avoided them or backed far away, not wanting to cross their path. Those that remained close had vivid discussions amongst themselves, pointing at the various mages. Some of them were loud enough for the mage to pick up.
"Look, isn't he the man they call Sparda?"
"That woman. She's the Harbringer right?"
"It seems like you two are fairly famous over here," the mage remarked, attempting to start a conversation with both of them.
"Its' not for a good reason Shinji," Ryuga addressed the other mage without looking back whereas Scar snorted in agreement.
"Oh," Shinji replied softly, slightly crestfallen that he had picked a sore topic. Well at least he tried.
After some time, they finally arrived at the artefact room. In front of the room stood a Rune Guard Captain, recognisable by the badge on the right side of his uniform. His eyes were slightly bulging out of his sockets and his movements seemed a bit rigid as shown when he opened the door very mechanically. Scar felt something was amiss with the man but she quelled her thoughts, stowing them away for later analysis.
Inside the room was Gram Dogma, the current head of the Magic Council. He had a look of frustration and disgust on his face as he gazed at the Scarlet Nova mages.
"Council Head Dogma, it is a pleasure to meet you. We are mages from Scarlet Nova and have arrived per you request." Glaive said with a warm smile as he extended out a handshake.
Gram snorted, brushing past Glaive and headed further into the room.
"I know who you are Fairy Tail brat and I don't have time for stupid formalities. Move it."
All three mages behind Glaive instantly tensed up at how rude the council head was but Glaive raised his hand, signalling for them to calm down. He still had that warm smile on his face as he followed Gram further in.
In the inner chamber, there was gigantic golden pillar of boxes, all of which were labelled with a roman numerical which glowed bright blue. Each of the boxes contained an artefact and they stacked on each other so high that even the top couldn't be seen. With a swipe of his hand, Gram brought forth a golden panel and tapped in some numbers. The hollow sphere floor in front of the panel instantly opened up, revealing the box that housed what they came for. With another click of a button, the box disintegrated to reveal the artefact that the Scarlet Nova mages had brought in 5 years ago.
In all honesty, Shinji had never seen the artefact before. He had only held the container used to house it and even that was opaque so he did not know what it looked like. So when he went to get a closer look, he was quite disappointed.
It was like any other ordinary piece of paper that was torn out from the tip of a book page. It only had two ancient letters on either side and was so small Shinji could easily fit it into his pocket. For something that was part of Zeref's books, Shinji expected something more sinister but this looked like any other paper to him. Did they really get the right thing?
Glaive, sensing Shinji's doubts, called out to him. "Shinji, try and pick it up."
"Ok," Shinji shrugged, reaching out to touch it. What could possibly happen?
The minute his finger came near the artefact, Shinji felt an immense pain shoot up his entire arm, causing him to yell and retract his hand. It was as though someone poured molten lava all over it and then stabbed it with a knife multiple times. But when Shinji rolled down his sleeves to inspect the injury, his arm was perfectly fine.
"Zeref is the most powerful black magic wizard in the history of Magic." Glaive explained. "No mere mortal would be able to touch a work of his due to the curse he placed on them. Only one who has the blood of a demon or a black magic caster would be able to come into contact with it."
Glaive then beckoned Ryuga to step forward. Ryuga enclosed his fist around the scrap of paper and Shinji watched in horror and amazement as black lines began to creep up Ryuga's arm and onto his neck. In a moment, Ryuga released the artefact, causing the black lines to vanish completely.
"It's the real deal alright. My blood is still boiling from having touched it." Ryuga grunted as he flexed his wrist and arm.
"Well then, your job is now done. So leave," grunted Gram
"Please wait a moment." Glaive asked, causing Gram to scowl. "As the team responsible for bringing this artefact here, I would like to have permission to transport it back to my guild. We have a special facility that…"
"What are you implying! Are you saying that the Magic Council is incompetent!" Gram roared in anger.
"Not at all, but I just figured that it would be best to keep it somewhere else. Ea has no mages guilds and an item like that would definitely draw the attention of the Balam Alliance. If they really want to take it, there would be no one to stop them or for you to call help from."
"Rubbish!" Gram said as he dismissed Glaive's advice. "You are no longer a Wizard Saint, so you should keep your business where it belongs."
"Don't think I don't know what you are trying to do," Gram accused, jabbing fingers at Ryuga and Scar. "You're trying to give these two monsters a power boost aren't you? Well you should just give it up. Monsters will always remain monsters, no matter how much you love them and train them. They are a bane to humanity and we should have disposed of them when we had the chance. The same goes to every damn mage that you scoop off the streets and let into your guild. They are all trash! They are worthless things that are of no use to the world of magic. They are all better off dead!"
That did it.
Glaive's smile instantly vanished. That same moment, the temperature of the room skyrocketed such that the walls started to melt from the immense heat. The pressure also soared, making it difficult to breathe as well. Alarms went off all over as sprinklers activated to try and cool the place down but even those melted too. A mini earthquake had also started, causing the artefact tower to vibrate furiously. Artefacts fell right out of their boxes and most of them disintegrated into ash even before they hit the ground.
"These kids have yet to find a place in this world. That is why we open guilds, to welcome them and protect them until they are ready for the world. Even if they have had some terrible past history, they were all victims of coincidence. There is not a single one of them that will commit evil for the joy of it. Even the one that you call monsters, if I had to point fingers the fault lies within the magic council. Wasn't Brain your handpicked assistant Gram? Look where that got us today. Not only did you not save these kids, you even tried to dispose of them and cover up the incompetency of the magic council. You may not see the potential they have but I do. They are not the monsters you have made them out to be. The real monsters are you, The Magic Council!" Glaive stated calmly, though the unbridled rage within his eyes spoke for themselves.
"These mages are all part of my family and I do not regret letting anyone of them join my guild. As such, they will be treated with respect and dignity. Try calling them trash one more time and no force in the world will stop me from tearing you apart."
Gram said nothing, the stern look on his face still holding. Deep down, he was shaking at the sheer power Glaive still possessed even after 10 years. The man did not own the title Wizard Saint for naught.
As quickly as it came, the abnormal atmospheric changes subsided. Glaive just turned and left the room, his team of mages following suit.
"Keep the artefact if you wish but I'll make myself clear. Scarlet Nova will not provide any assistance or be responsible should anything happen."
With that, the doors to the artefact room slammed shut with a resounding boom.
Down the hallways, there was absolute silence. All three mages had something to say but it was Scar that spoke first.
"Master. Thank you for defending us just now," Scar uttered, her head still down. She truly was grateful for what Glaive said.
Glaive stopped walking, turning around with a warm smile as he faced them.
"Don't worry about it. No one in Scarlet Nova is trash. You are all good children in your own different ways. As long as you are part of this guild, I will not let any harm come to you, because you are a part of my family and family watches out for one another." Glaive explained as he placed a hand on Ryuga and Scar's shoulders.
"Thank you Master," they said in unison although in a barely audible voice.
Shinji just stood at the back, watching as warmth filled his heart. It was definitely the right decision to join this guild. While he was uncertain in the past, the events today just proved that Glaive really did love every last one of them.
Never in his life did he ever feel so much pride to call himself a Scarlet Nova mage.
Outside the magic council building
"Hey old man! Yes you, the one surrounded by bodyguards!" came a voice that was directed towards Glaive. The small entourage had just left the building when the voice called out to them. Glaive looked around, trying to find where the voice was coming from.
"Up here!" the voice called again which brought Glaive's attention to a large tree.
In the highest branches of the tree sat a mage. The mage was slim and muscular, standing at an average height of 5'9. He was dark skinned with spiky sandy-blond hair, which was kept in strands jutting outwards in every direction, and a smaller, frontal cowlick of hair partially hanging over his forehead. His eyes were red and slanted with slit like pupils, the right eye having a small thin diagonal scar over it. He wore a thin brown vest, with gold lining and swirling symbols, left opened and untucked to expose his bare chest and abdomen. He wore large, baggy, black trousers with an upper portion that was lighter in colour. He accented this outfit with two small, crystal earrings in both ears, intricately designed gold bracelets on each wrist, and dark-colored bands on each of his biceps. He completed the outfit with light-colored sandals and a golden scarf bearing an eye on the region covering his forehead. Next to the mage was a green exceed. She had large pink round eyes, her fur of different shades of green with the belly region being of a lighter colour. She wore a pink top, with a yellow skirt, a flower prominent tucked behind her ear, as well as a ribbon with a flower at the end of her tail.
"You're the one that caused the spike in magic power just now, weren't you?" the mage asked.
Glaive was impressed. They were deep within the building when that happened and yet the mage could pick it up all the way from the outside. This mage had very good magical perception skills.
"Yes I did. My name is Glaive and I run a guild by the name of Scarlet Nova. You are?" Glaive asked as the mage carried his exceed with one arm and leapt off the tree.
"My name is Judar and this is Floral. We are currently looking for a guild to join." Judar explained as he landed onto the ground.
"Great, so would you like to join?" Glaive asked as he held out his hand only for Judar to raise his in rejection.
"You are strong no doubt judging from that magic spike. But feeling and seeing are two different things if you get my drift." Judar shrugged.
Glaive instantly understood where this was going and took off his cloak, handing it to Ryuga. "So you wish to fight me?"
"Yep! If you meet my expectations, I'll join your guild." Judar said with a smile as he assumed a battle stance.
"Floral is cheering for you Judar!" Floral said with joy as she bounced up and down, her hands in the air.
Glaive just stood in a relaxed stance, his left arm tucked into his pants pocket while he beckoned for Judar to come with his right. "Come on."
"With pleasure," Judar replied as sand began to swarm around his fists.
With a battle cry, Judar lunged forward.
With sand encased fists, Judar charged straight for Glaive and tried to land hits on him. While his attacks were powerful, Glaive just moved out of the way with the slightest of movements or blocked his strikes completely with his free arm. Seeing an opening, Glaive did a palm thrust into Judar's chest, sending him flying backwards. Halfway in flight, Judar caught his balance, his feet skidding against the ground. A brown magic circle formed at his mouth as his cheeks and stomach began to swell. An attack that Glaive knew all too well.
"Roar of the Sand Dragon!" Judar exclaimed as he released a tornado of sand towards Glaive. Glaive just held out his open palm in front of him and as the attack drew near, grabbed it and enclosed his fingers. The spell instantly disintegrated, spraying loose grains of sand all over the place.
"I'm not done yet!" remarked Judar as he began to cartwheel towards Glaive. This time, Sand began to cluster around his legs in the form of a vortex.
"Claw of the Sand Dragon!" cried Judar as he tried to dropkick Glaive. Even with the force behind the sand vortex, Glaive still caught his foot and threw him back. Judar tumbled on the floor once more, rolling a fair distance away before getting back up.
"Have enough yet?" Glaive asked as Judar panted heavily.
"Nope!" Judar grinned as he rushed towards Glaive again.
Glaive just sighed as he dodged Judar's blows, occasionally returning with one or two chops with his hands. No matter how he hit him; Judar just wouldn't go down, something that reminded him so much of Natsu.
Meanwhile Judar was carefully planning the timing of Glaive's strikes in between getting clobbered. Finally he found an opening in Glaive's movement and that made the grin on his face even wider.
Glaive had a look of puzzlement when he saw the boy smiling like a madman. Heck he might as well as have been Natsu himself, Glaive thought as he swung his arm at Judar's chest.
Only this time, his arm remained stuck.
The instant Glaive's arm hit "Judar", "Judar" collapsed into a clump of sand which held Glaive's arm firmly in place. Now that was an interesting turn of events.
"Shell of the Sand Dragon." Judar remarked as he ejected himself from the back of the sand shell. Once again, he let the sand flow around his arms as he prepared for his next strike. Only this time, the sand seemed to be concentrated around his fists and was currently twirling furiously.
"The final blow! Ifrit Blow of the Sand Dragon!" roared Judar as he ploughed his fist into Glaive's abdomen. The mini cyclone of sand exploded instantly on contact, releasing fierce winds which slashed all round them. This kicked up a dust storm, obscuring Judar's view of Glaive.
"I did it," Judar thought to himself, thinking that Glaive would be lying on the ground in pain. So when the dust settled, he was in for a huge surprise.
Glaive was still standing at where Judar had hit him moments ago. Let alone Glaive, his clothes weren't even torn.
"Whoa," Judar chuckled as he collapsed backwards on all fours. He was running low already on magic and he still hadn't made Glaive budge at all.
"Do you still want to continue?" Glaive asked with a smile on his face, having freed his arm from the sand shell.
"Nope, I give up. You are definitely strong." Judar grinned as he let his body hit the ground in exhaustion.
"Well then, welcome to Scarlet Nova." said Glaive as he extended his hand to Judar once more.
This time, Judar took it.
Magic Council Building, Ea (past midnight)
By this time, the Scarlet Nova mages had all boarded the train and were on their way home already. Gram had dismissed Glaive's goodwill earlier, chalking it up as an ulterior motive. The only thing he did though was increase the number of Rune Knights in the hallway leading to the artefact room. While that would have proven effective against a normal thief, against the incoming intruders they might have as well been sheets of paper. They were all boxed up with nowhere to go, about to die on duty.
Suddenly alarms blared all over the magic council building. Half asleep attendants rushed to and fro as they tried to find out the cause of the alarms.
"What's going on!" Gram demanded through the communications lacrima. He was in the middle of a good night's sleep when the alarms went off.
"Intruders sir!' the attendant reported. "Two of them and they are headed to the artefact room as we speak!"
"Damn, do we have visuals?"
"No sir, they are all wearing cloaks."
"Curses!" Gram scowled as he got out of bed. He was going down there to settle this personally. "Rune Knight Teams, stand by!"
"Roger that!" the rune knight captain replied as he hurried his troops into formation. There were about a 100 rune knights in the corridor leading up to the artefact room and they all assumed formations consisting of 9 men teams. Magic guns and spears were all poised at the door leading to the hallway, ready to shoot and impale anything that came through.
The silence was so deafening that one could hear a pin drop.
And then the door opened.
The rune knights all tensed up as they anticipated the intruder but no one came through the door.
Or so they thought.
"You guys are such terrible watchdogs," came a voice from behind the first two battalions of Rune Knights. All eyes turned as they gazed at the intruder. Said person had a tall build and was currently wearing a black cloak with a hood, concealing his identity. A pair of katana blades extended from his palm as he observed the blood trickling down them. The intruder then proceeded to lick the blood off the blades before causing them to disappear down his palm. "I almost feel sorry for you."
With that the vision of everyone in the first two battalions bisected, all of them falling apart into bloody halves as they were all cut clean in half.
Screams of fear erupted from the remaining rune knights as they rapidly scrambled to regain their composure. The hooded figure merely let out a maniacal grin as he smelt the fear in the air.
That was when the second intruder appeared in the door way. He was just as tall as the first though he had a slightly broader chest. Where he walked, the blood all seemed to pool towards him. It travelled up his legs, body and onto his arms. There it began to extend and crystallise eventually forming a scythe.
"Let the hunt begin," the second intruder remarked to which the first charged.
There were screams of pain and agony as the two intruders butchered the rune knights that had foolishly decided to defend this hallway. Sounds of gunfire could be heard but none of their shots hit their marks. Some rune knights lost their will and tried to run, but found that there was no room to run as the hallway was in a single direction. Some eventually gave into pleading with intruders for mercy, only to find that there was none. Men, women, young and old, the two intruders slaughtered everything that moved. None of the rune knights in that hallway lived to see another sunrise.
By the time Gram arrived, the hallway resembled a slaughterhouse. Blood literally painted the entire hallway and body parts decorated every nook and cranny of it. Gram had to hold his breath as the wave of blood and death overwhelmed him completely. It was a massacre and Gram was sick to his gut.
Then a groan was heard. "A survivor," Gram thought to himself as he hurried over.
It was the same rune knight captain that was stationed outside the room.
"Come on, up you go!" grunted Gram as he lifted the captain to his feet.
Only to find a blade in his gut.
"What?" confusion filled Gram's eyes as he watched the captain drive the sword further into his body. At this point the Captain was laughing uncontrollably, though words seemed to be coming out of his mouth incoherently as well.
As Gram felt his consciousness slip, he noticed something gleam in the pale moonlight.
"Wires?" he thought painfully as he collapsed onto the ground.
Unknown to him, there was third intruder. This one however was located far in the mountains behind the magic council building. This intruder was a lot shorter than the other two and was currently seated up in a tree. A metallic gauntlet with wires shone brightly in the moonlight, indicating that she was responsible for the Captain's behaviour.
"Ah! There's one still alive," remarked the first intruder as he walked over the mountain of corpses. They had just claimed their bounty and were on their way out when they spotted Gram bleeding out.
"Leave him be, we need him to deliver a message for us." The second intruder snickered.
"Who…who…who are you?" Gram painfully wheezed out before his vision went black.
"It doesn't matter now does it? You just tell Glaive Heathcliff and his band of merry mages, that Orochi has returned. And we're coming for him."
A/N: Well that's it for this chapter. Hope you guys enjoyed it. Stay tuned for the next one and remember to review and favorite.
Death Obelisk signing off.
