I own nothing.

As quick as his entry into the guild was, Lelouch had to acknowledge that the process of obtaining his Mark had been somewhat invigorating. The thought of someone permanently marking his skin had never entered his consideration before, the act being too disadvantageous to be taken seriously, which was part of the reason why he had found the experience so unique.

Gently touching the purple mark on his right bicep which was currently glowing because of the remaining whisks of ambient magic, Lelouch could not help the small grin that threatened to break across his face. He knew for a fact that his mother would not be as amused if she knew her son had done something so brazen, but even the thought of her rage had not taken away the novelty of the moment.

Besides, he had been careful— the mark denoting his allegiance had been carefully placed, located at a spot that made it convenient to both conceal and display if required. The mark served as a constant reminder, a testament to the cause that had drawn him all the way here. It would not do him any good if he grew complacent and forgot to focus on the reason behind his escape.

That the formerly prestigious Fairy Tail, once amongst Ishgar's greatest, had now been consumed by decadence was concerning, but not entirely unexpected. Even now, the main hall remained largely empty with only a few members in sight and none of them cheerful. It was a disappointing sight, he had been looking forward to interacting with his new colleagues, his Nakama as Macao had called them.

His entry into the guild had been awkward, to say the least. The oppressive atmosphere it had created made it a difficult task to bridge the gap yesterday, physical or otherwise with a basic introduction by Macao being the proper interaction so far.

After he was done arranging lodgings for himself yesterday, Lelouch had let his mind toy with various ideas of introductions. His preferred game was one of diplomacy and manipulation, where he presented himself as the amiable comrade who shared in both defeat and victory. He had seen that image create excellent leaders with thousands falling over themselves to curry favour from a single man. But his plans had been shelved for later the moment he had been graced by an almost empty hall upon entering.

Fiore had been different from what he had been expecting. This part of the world had even seen its fair share of war for the better part of a century. Yes, there had been conflict as there always would be, even then, life was a peaceful affair for the majority of the inhabitants. Generations of people existed who knew well the thrum of war magic and yet openly rejected the concept of warfare.

It was the kind of place he'd once wanted to live in, wanted for her.

Magnolia, based on what he had seen was no different and he would have taken this as a blessing, if not for the fact that the organization he was meant to enter had already been defeated before it could even enter the arena.

The emotion wasn't foreign to him, it had been a constant companion through most of his life ever since he had started dreaming of empires and revolutions. Yet rarely had he let this elusive emotion grow— few were the moments in which he was paralyzed by doubt, crippled by indecision. His intellect had always been a defining trait, and even now he knew his options, what he had to do to make a life for himself here, but it was his will that was being shaken.

In this new nation he was nothing; had nothing. No identity, no family, no friends, no purpose. The thought was strangely liberating, for if he truly had nothing then he'd just have to start from scratch again, only without her this time.

"So you are the new kid?"

Lelouch glanced at the speaker who had pulled him from his thoughts. The words came from one of his fellow guild members seated at the far end of the bar table, one of the few who were present today. He hadn't quite caught the question, his attention having been briefly distracted by a particularly loud clack behind him, but its meaning was apparent from the way the green-haired woman was curiously looking at his face. In response, Lelouch simply smiled charmingly and walked over to her.

"I could not properly introduce myself before but my name is Lelouch vi Belserion. It's a pleasure to meet you," He extended a hand towards the woman who stared at him with raised eyebrows, before tentatively giving him her own. Instead of shaking it, however, he brought it to his lips and brushed his lips against her knuckles in a single practiced motion.

His actions seemed to have piqued the interest of the few other members present today though, and a rowdy whistle could be heard quite clearly even over the intermittent clacking of the glasses in the background. The green-haired woman gave him a strangely bashful look even as orange-haired the man sitting next to her gave out a bark of laughter. "It seems as if Alzack might have some competition."

"Shut up and do your own thing, Jet." The woman dryly glanced at the man beside her before she took a sip from her drink and adjusted her cowboy hat which had fallen out of its place. A moment later she turned towards him, eyes interested as they observed him. "Bisca Connell, likewise."

Lelouch just nodded at her introduction, committing her name to memory before pointing towards the pistol clasped at her waist. "Do you use Holder Magic?"

Bisca frowned, clearly surprised by his question but any brash comment was suppressed as she instead asked a question in return. "Holder Magic? Why do you ask?"

In hindsight, suddenly asking someone questions about their personal magic right after meeting them could be considered somewhat rude but surprisingly Lelouch could not sense anything other than curiosity in her gaze.

"An aspect of my personal magic allows me to enhance Magic Items, so I wanted to acquaint myself with every user of Holder Magic should my assistance be someday deemed necessary." Lelouch nodded and answered truthfully.

Bisca seemed satisfied with his explanation and a moment later, she reached to her side and in a single practiced motion, withdrew her gun from what appeared to be a holster that also served as an optional accessory to her dress.

"You guessed it right. I do use Gun Magic and I suppose I can be considered decently good at it too." Bisca said, smirking as she blew a breath at the tip of her intricately decorated firearm, "Your power sounds useful. I would make sure to spread the word around and let everyone know where to go if they are in need of some upgrades."

"Thanks," Lelouch whispered, amethyst eyes widening as she placed the gun back in its holster just as quickly with a twirl.

"So you're basically an enchanter?" Bisca asked a moment later, glancing at him from the corner of her wide eyes— a mixture of surprise, sadness, melancholy, and a thousand other emotions he could neither name nor understand flashing through them.

"Yes?" Lelouch raised his brow when he witnessed Bisca sigh mournfully at his answer.

"Sorry, it's just… we used to have an enchanter in our guild," Bisca understood what she had been doing, and lowered her head as if she were remembering something particularly painful. "Seeing another young enchanter somehow reminded me of her."

It took him a few seconds to understand who exactly they were talking about. He had seen numerous mentions of the supposedly newest generation of dragon slayers a long time ago during his research on Fairy Tail and now that he thought about it, he vaguely recalled that Sky Dragon Slayer could supposedly cast a wide variety of number of enchantments. She was the youngest member who had vanished in the Tenrou incident, barely even thirteen.

Lelouch could understand what Bisca was currently experiencing far more than most could, if only for the fact that his entire life had been shaped by distant memories of requiems and revolutions, dreams of a separate world where wars of influence were fought using knights of steel. Sometimes the memories which hung the heaviest could become the easiest to recall. They hold in their creases the ability to change the direction of life itself and even shaking them out could not remove the permanent wrinkles.

He knew his old world would forever remain out of his reach. Nunnally would have her peace. Suzaku, Kallen, Schneizel, and his Black Knights— they would restore Japan to its former glory. They had been deserving, and they had received.

Emotionally, however– and had not that forever been his biggest shortcoming - he was struck by a profound sense of isolation. A sense of defeat that just would not go away. Bisca must have been feeling something comparable.

"You should have seen us during our glory days, I would've introduced you to all the others then." Bisca sighed and slowly downed her drink in one go before she turned towards him once again. "Any magical organization would be quick to welcome an enchanter with open arms. So why join us when you could have chosen something better?"

Her inquiry made him pause for its seeming simplicity, snapping him out of his sombre thoughts. He turned around to look at Bisca was looking at him expectantly, as if the answer he provided would somehow explain everything. He took advantage of his patience, and spent the next few seconds in silence, considering his next words.

"I imagine that the main reason behind my presence would be quicker to understand, as there is actually quite little to explain. I joined this guild because I seek answers, so to speak. As I told Master Macao yesterday, I have strong reasons to believe that I lived a life in another world before I was reincarnated here and Fairy Tail was the only organization I knew of which had dealt with beings from other worlds before. How I came to know about this is purely happenstance, I knew someone who was acquainted with Mystogan whose circumstances you must be aware of."

Interest turned into skepticism, and she levelled him a look full of it, as one green eyebrow was raised at his claims. "I think I read a novel like that recently."

He was surprised; he'd expected disbelief, but thought it would be directed at knowledge about information outsiders should not have been privy to. It was, after all, the fact he imagined would arouse the most suspicion. It seemed that the members of Fairy Tail put more stock than he in coincidence.

"I hear that more often than you think," Lelouch smirked at her, before turning around and glancing at the mostly empty hall around. "Everyone is absent today, but I had a lot of questions I wanted to ask. Do you know where must I go in order to see the rules regulating the job dispersal?"

"Most of the other members are busy working today but the Job Counter is over there." Bisca pointed towards a dusty corner, largely occupied by a large wooden board and a register counter placed alongside it. "You should be able to find Master Macao over there, he can answer every question you have."

Lelouch glanced in that direction and saw the purple-haired elder he had been somewhat acquainted with yesterday staring intensely at the Job Board with a frown on his face as he thoughtfully scratched the side of his check. He turned back to Bisca and gracefully bowed in thanks, "Ah, then I must get going but thanks for your advice."

"See you around." Bisca playfully winked at him, waving after he spoke his farewells and headed toward the Job Counter.

And that was how he spent the next hour— trying to reach the Job Counter only to be intercepted by the few other members present today. Most of them were quite amicable and had no problems in welcoming his presence, even if reluctantly so at the start. The oppressive atmosphere should have made it a difficult task to bridge the gap yet the opposite had been happening so far. He thought it would have been harder to get them to trust him, but then again Fairy Tail had always been an unusual organization.

The questions he had been asked were rather innocuous, yet charmingly invasive. He could have just given them his name, but he imagined it would be met with dissatisfaction. Fragmented question and answer was perhaps not the best solution to this ordeal, so he did what he knew best. All he seemingly required were introductions, coupled with a bit of truth to create the foundations of an amicable relationship

Suddenly, the doors to the headquarters opened and a young boy came inside whose features vaguely matched those of Macao.

"Hey." The boy moved past everyone without even sparing them a glance and walked straight up to the master who was seated at a table placed beside the Job Counter. "I have finished my job."

Lelouch instantly understood that this boy was somehow related to the master. His guess was proven true a moment later when Macao shot to his feet enthusiastically and clasped the shoulder of the boy in question with both his hands. "Great job, Romeo!"

The youngster, apparently Romeo, sighed at that. "You guys only allow me to take the easy jobs and escorting tourists through forests for the day isn't something worth celebrating."

Macao swept away his words with a boisterous laugh. "Nonsense, anything is worth celebrating if someone you care for accomplished it."

The boy scowled at his father, face crunching as if he had heard those same words thousands of times before he noticed finally Lelouch who had almost reached the Job Counter. "Hm? Did we get a new member?"

The amethyst-eyed teenager waved in response. "Hello, my name is Lelouch. I recently joined the guild."

The boy, Romeo, was wearing a dark sleeveless jacket held together by a sash wrapped around his waist. The jacket itself was open and the boy also wore loose pants and a scarf around his neck. Though he knew only basic information about this generation's dragon slayers, Lelouch could not help but notice that this boy was dressed almost exactly as Natsu Dragneel, the renowned Salamander, once used to.

Yet in all images he had seen of the pink-haired dragon slater, Natsu had always had an innocent grin on his face, while Romeo seemed adamant about keeping that solemn frown on his face. That look did not suit him.

"Hey." Romeo glanced at him and returned the greeting a moment later. Lelouch smiled and walked forward with an extended hand, but Romeo was already on his way out. His father, Macao gave a sad sigh as he saw his son leave before turning towards him apologetically.

"Sorry about him. He is usually not this moody."

"It is okay," Lelouch glanced at the Master and reassured him with a soft smile. "But I was wondering, is he the only other mage here who's younger than I am?"

The others who happened to be listening in shared a strangely melancholic with their leader from their position by the bar counter. The question had basis, though. Most members that he had seen so far in the guild were of an older age group. Some of the more senior even had wrinkles and greying hair as a testament to their growing age yet Lelouch knew that Fairy Tail had nurtured numerous groups of youngsters before. They would have seemed out of place, here in the smoky underground bar, but above previously it was common enough.

"Yeah," Macao slowly nodded, the melancholy in his eyes only increasing. "Right now, we just have about a dozen mages in total. Counting you, there are only two mages amongst them that are underage."

Only around dozen— as far as Lelouch knew, even lower magical unions of Ishgar could boast of a larger manpower. It was a woeful number when even compared with the number of men sworn to the smallest guild he personally knew of yet he knew that Fairy Tail had once stood proud, heads and shoulders above its all peers. How had it fallen so low?

"Speaking of which, what are your current plans now that you've joined Fairy Tail?" Macao's question pulled him from his thoughts, and he turned towards the guild master who was peering at him with raised brows, "You have briefly informed me of your living circumstances but do you even have a place to stay?"

Lelouch did not recall explicitly saying anything to the Master that would cause him to worry about his circumstances, but it wasn't have been a strenuous stretch of the imagination to connect the dots he'd laid out. With a slight start, though he didn't show it—he realized exactly what he was in the eyes of Macao Conbolt. A tragic figure regardless of achievements, life changed by the realization of dimensional transfer who had turned to a decaying guild as a method of living.

"I can manage to comfortably accommodate myself for a few months with the funds I have at hand." Lelouch slowly nodded, trying to ignore the small sting of annoyance which came from Macao's pity. He had been thinking of buying a house for himself now that he had properly joined the guild but sadly his funds had fallen short by a marginal amount. "But I had some questions regarding the job distributions."

Macao seemed startled by his question, "I thought you understood everything well. But regardless, ask away and I would try to answer as well as I can."

"Ah, here was no problem with the explanation," Lelouch told the man who visibly relaxed at the confirmation, and pointed towards the job counter where quests were supposed to be displayed. "It's just that I could find any higher-ranked quests in the bulletin yesterday."

"Higher-ranked?" Macao asked in surprise, eyebrows rising so high that they almost touched his hairline.

The teenager just pointed at the Job Counter again, nodding towards the few jobs on display. "Yes, I could only find two B-ranked quests at the moment, and the rest are all C-ranked or below. I was wondering where the higher-ranked quests might be?"

Macao looked at the newest member with wide concerned eyes. "But that is..."

His face twisted unnaturally when he looked at the amethyst eyes of Lelouch and understood that this young teenager was trying to choose an absurd task for himself. B-ranked quests alone were undertakings that usually demanded numerous teams of experienced grown mages, and even then, the chances of success were deemed obscure at best. To say nothing of A-ranked quests and those above…

"Lelouch, I am sure you're a very strong mage, but this..." The master slowly explained, as if he were talking to a small kid. "Those quests require several adult mages to complete, and even then, only a few of those mages sometimes come back fine. Please understand, those quests might be far out of your league and would be extremely dangerous for anyone of your age."

And to think that supposedly the newest member was searching for that kind of mission, that he was considering embarking on that kind of quest alone. Any normal man would be rightfully concerned, Lelouch could certainly understand that yet the persuasions of the guild master somehow could not convince him at all.

Out of his league, huh? Lelouch inwardly grimaced, he had already decided what kind of jobs he would take and even if he had no problem in doing lower-ranked quests— time spent being forced to do what essentially amounted to menial labour would be time he could have invested in something else.

"I know what you're thinking right now, boy." Macao sighed, speaking as if he had said the same thing a thousand times before, "The things you might face in these quests are supposed to be as strong as a whole hoard of Vulcans and Wyverns put together. Even the veterans here would think twice before accepting such quests.:

Lelouch looked at the Master who seemed as if he would not budge on this and sighed. They had harshly underestimated him, granted they had not even seen what he was truly capable of, but to assume the strength of someone without proper knowledge and information could quickly turn into a grave mistake that might bring about serious repercussions.

"Yes, we're a magic guild first and foremost, but even then, the safety of my family is my topmost priority and you're one of my Nakama now, Lelouch," Macao said with genuine sincerity. It would be very tragic for Fairy Tail itself if their newest nakama was put in needless danger just because he approved of a quest he was not ready for. Why do youngins have to be so reckless?

"I am fully aware of the risks and dangers that I might invite but I have more than enough confidence in myself to take the risk anyways, my recommendations more than prove this. I would accept your decision but please consider this," Lelouch seriously said after a moment, taken aback by the sheer concern he could feel from the Master and Macao actually seemed to consider his words. After several seconds of thinking, the master finally spoke.

"I have experienced this plenty of times with my son to know what you're really thinking and I have met enough stubborn youngsters to understand that no words would convince you," Macao carefully answered, knowing his words could doom a boy who had his whole life ahead of him. "The guild master does not have the power to stop someone from taking a quest they are perfectly eligible for so I am in no position to stop you. Let me think about this for a moment…"

Lelouch glanced at the older man, surprised that he was citing the law in such a situation. In Ishgar, though the Guild Master is considered the leader of a guild, he does not have complete command over its members except during times of war or emergencies. In periods of peace, mages are not legally obligated to obey his every command. The members of guilds had certain rights and one of the most important among them was the fact that members of a guild were allowed to pick or refuse their own missions.

Mages had the full right to refuse if they were offered a mission they do not want, Usually, it was considered traditional for mages to obey the guild master, but they are not required to do so and the Master certainly could force them to. For good reason too, one could not just force someone to work when they do not want to and expect it to work. Nothing good can come from that. What if a quest was too dangerous, or the mage in question was too tired from his last job and wanted a break.

The opposite was also true, a Master could not deny his subordinate work just as he could not force him to take a mission, it was not the way things worked. That's not to say that the Guild Master does not have any authority over his fellow members, because he does, a lot of it. For example, members could accept any free quest they wanted so long as they were qualified for it in accordance with the guild criteria, standards which were set by the Master himself.

It just meant that wizards had their own rights as well and fortunately for Lelouch, Fairy Tail gave its members the freedom to choose any job they wanted except for those ranked S or higher.

"Fine then, you do whatever you want." His eyes widened slightly in shock. Macao had just made a decision that might just doom a boy who had his whole life ahead of him. He had not expected that.

"But know that our antiquated job counter with higher-ranked quests happens to be located in our old headquarters which has been sealed and you're not qualified for those quests anyways according to guild regulations," Macao told him, squinting as if he suddenly had figured out how to deal with his request. "As for the A-ranked quests, you might be able to take these quests according to guild regulations but you need to take along an older escort for your first ten quests. But even then, those brutes at Twilight Ogre currently have all of the available A-ranked quests and have been hoarding them ever since we were forced to shift headquarters. Hardly any new quest comes our way and the ones we get here are merely leftovers."

"All of those?" The teenager inquired, "Isn't that illegal?"

"You tell me, kid." Macao snorted, almost in derision before the guild master looked at him in a serious manner, "They have a monopoly on all quests that are assigned to Magnolia. All higher-ranked quests go to them first. If you want to take higher-ranked quests then you'd have to convince those savages first and good luck with doing that."

Lelouch closed his eyes, somewhat understanding what Macao was trying to do. The master had understood that words alone could not persuade him, so this old man was trying to convince him to give up his search for higher-ranked quests in his own way. Trying to dissuade him by portraying even the act of embarking on an A-ranked quest as something impossible might have worked on his son but the trick would not work on him. It might be his arrogance speaking, but Lelouch doubted a bunch of oversized thugs would be able to stop him.

He had to admit though, he was impressed to know caring the older guild master really was and how much he loved the guild alongside its members. But he needed to stop babying them all as he was doing now.

A moment later, Lelouch opened his amethyst eyes and asked. "So I just need to convince Twilight Ogre and get quests from them, right?"

Macao snorted and turned around, apparently considering this conversation to be over as he walked back towards the Job Counter, "You'd be more than worthy of a higher-ranked quest if you can somehow get it from those savages."

Lelouch watched him leave for a moment before he smirked, "If I deliver to you the impossible, then I might have gained your trust."

Thanks for reading.