Fandom Brief Histories

Lady Warlock · Jul 27, 2017

Brief Histories
What are Brief Histories?

As their title implies, brief histories are… well, brief. It’s a short story although short is defined by number of posts, not by actual word counts or anything of that sort. This is an opportunity for players to write single post stories about things that happened to their character before the year x780. These single post stories can be written individually or collaboratively with multiple people involved. There is no limit on the number of players that may participate in a single “Brief History,” however, it must be contained in a single post.

There are a few regulations and restrictions on Brief History posts.

They must be contained in a single post.
Any NPC villains who could possibly come back in missions, side adventures, or main stories need to be approved by a GM before they are utilized. For approval on NPC villains, send a PM to both GMs with an explanation of the NPC villain and where they might come back. The GMs might ask for more details so be prepared.
All brief history posts must take place before x780.
Completed “Brief Histories” should be posted in this thread. A GM will edit them into the accordion below.

Brief Histories

x768: What's Papa Like?: Featuring: Skylar and Brooke Livre of Fairy Tail

It was a bustling morning in Magnolia. Citizens were making their way toward work or restaurants to have breakfast. One such pair of breakfast goers consisted of Fairy Tail Wizard Brooke Livre and her four-year-old daughter Skylar. Overwhelmed by the number of people, Skylar shyly hid behind her mother's leg as she walked behind her. Brooke looked down at her shy daughter and beamed a warm, maternal smile at her.

"It's alright Skylar, I'm here," Brooke said softly. She reached down a loving hand toward her daughter. Skylar quickly squeezed her mother's hand with one of her own and smiled back at her mother. Skylar slowly started to feel bolder as she held her mother's hand and soon started to walk beside her. Although she still looked a little nervous, Skylar did her best to smile at the people she passed by. She continued to smile until she realized that her mother and herself were being stared at by multiple civilians.

"A child out of wedlock, disgraceful," an old prude said to her friend.

"A wizard can do better than being a single-mother," another woman added.

More judgmental remarks were said among the citizens and their friends. Even though the words were more about Brooke and Skylar than directed at them, they still affected the shy girl. Skylar began to retreat back into her shyness; while still holding her mother's hand, she went back to hiding behind her. Brooke on the other hand looked mad. Not at the words, but at how the words caused her storybook princess to react the way she did.

Brooke quickened their pace and ducked into an alley with Skylar. Brooke pulled out one of her Storybooks and summoned the Big Bad Wolf. "Stand guard," she ordered. "I want to talk to my daughter without any interference." Wolf nodded before taking a couple steps toward the alley entrance and mentally entering guard dog mode. Luckily the bad mouthing citizens of Magnolia didn't follow them, otherwise they would have flared Wolf's temper.

Brooke crouched down onto one knee, looked her daughter in the eye, and comfortingly placed a hand on her shoulder. "Skylar, don't listen to them. They only talk from their own perspective, not from mine. There's never a day that I regret making the choice that turned me into your mother. I'll always love you, Skylar," Brooke said softly.

A small smile appeared on Skylar's face as she put her arms behind her mother's neck and hugged her. "I know," she said as she felt her mother hug her back. After hugging for a couple seconds in quiet, a question burned in Skylar's mind. Maybe it had something to do with what the citizens were saying, but she just had to ask. "Momma...wh...what's p...papa like?"

Brooke was taken aback by the question, but her smile only grew bigger after it was asked. "If you ever meet your father, you might be intimidated by him; but deep down, he's a very kind man. I don't regret the fact that he's your father," she replied. "Now then, let's get something to eat."

"OK," Skylar said cheerily. The mother and daughter pulled away from their hug and rejoined a pair of hands. Brooke returned Wolf to his Storybook and began to walk with her daughter toward the restaurant they planned to eat breakfast at.

Credit to: shadowdude505
x773: Eclipse of Moons: Featuring: Scarlet Moon of Blue Pegasus and her sister

Scarlet stood in front of a small, slightly dilapidated house. The house had a creepy and dark atmosphere. Scarlet sighed, “She would live in a place like this…” She walked up to the front door and knocked loudly. No response. “Violet are you there! Open the door!” Scarlet pounded on the door. Still no response. She tried the door. It creaked open. “Hello! Violet! It’s me, Scarlet! Where are you!" walking into the house she discovered it was a disorganized mess. There were clothes lying on the floor, chipped paint and torn wall paper were everywhere. None of the lights were on and eerie shadows moved across the walls. I’m sure she is here… She has always been a bit of a recluse… I bet she is trying to scare me… Scarlet pouted and looked for where her sister could be hiding. She entered a room that appeared to be the kitchen. “Where you Vi! I know you’re here!” Shuffling through the room, she started to scrutinize the disorderly room.

“How can you live in such squalaaaaah!” Something yanked Scarlet’s hair and pulled her back. Then she heard maniacal laughter. “Violet!”

“Ah ha ha ha ha! Yes Scarlet? What brings you to my humble abode?”

“I came to check up on you. Did you hear about Royce Obertuck?”

“Yes, I wonder what he’s going to do once they put him in Ilan Vair…”

“You’re not in league with him are you?! Are you practicing dark magic?!”

“Heh, I was just planning on how to break Royce out of Ilan Vair with my dark powers…”

“Really!” Scarlet gasped.

“No, you gullible idiot. I’m in the middle of getting my bachelor’s degree at the university, and I don’t care about Royce Obertuck. Though I could use something like this incident in one of my stories…”

“Oh yeah, I bought your book of poems! It’s… really unsettling… so good job I guess… So what are you planning to publish next?”

“A full out horror story probably…. Ugh, and I suppose you want me to ask how your life is going…”

“I just joined Blue Pegasus as an A-rank mage. I was hoping for an S-rank, but I know I can achieve that later. There are so many great people at the guild. When you’re done with schooling you should join.”

“No. Not for me. Those delicate flowers at Blue Pegasus couldn’t handle me. If some outside force has me joining a guild it would be Raven Tail or Sabertooth…”

“We are not delicate flowers! A bunch of interesting people have joined the guild like Jacob Foles, and a cute little boy named Leveret. He’s basically my little brother now, my little sidekick. Levi has great magical potential. We are totally going to make it into the history books.”

“You always seem to forget that I hate people. Why would I join an organization full of them?”

Scarlet sighed heavily “I wish I could understand you better Violet… I don’t think being cooped up in this disaster of a house is good for you. I want you to have friends and interact with people. I worry about you,” Scarlet paused briefly, “I will always hope you change your mind, but I won’t change it for you. If you’re happy like this, then I guess I can be a little happy for you.”

“Ugh… I hate it when you get all wishy washy on me, but I appreciate that I’m not going to be forced to go to your social gathering anymore. You do you, and I’ll do me.”

“Oh Vi… You do care!” Scarlet gave her sister a big hug.

“You’re…Crushing…Me…”

“Sorry,” Scarlet let go of her sister. Violet then started coughing violently.

“Oh no! You’re not sick again are you?”

Violet caught her breath, “No I’m fine… Now get out of my house and leave me in peace ya little goody two shoes!”

Scarlet laughed, “Okay, but expect me to check up on you again soon.”

She left as her sister let out a long groan.

Credit to: Sophrosyne03
x777: I'm Not a Freak: Millie Thorrin and Adellon Thrace
It had been early in the morning when Millie woke up and started moving on her way. The dawn welcomed what was the young girl's fourth day as a Raven Tail mage and she was surprised at herself for still not knowing much about Harrow Town yet. It was her new home, after all, so it deserved for her to know it a little bit more. She wanted to explore and given that she had been wandering nearly on her own for the past months, Millie never thought to take anyone else with her. She didn't even suspect that there would be many people awake to give her trouble in the first place. All she knew as she stepped outside was that the sunrise was beautiful and that should've been the only thing that mattered.

With a cheerful skip in her step, Millie was heading out on an adventure of explorative proportions.

Adellon rubbed at his eyes as he swiftly flipped the pages on yet another book. Having sensed it was going to be a night he didn't sleep he had made the library his refuge per usual. He had a nominally large stack of books to his right in his finished pile. This was the last one he had to read. He sipped at his cocoa mug with a smile as he finished the last few pages.

Setting about to put the books back on their proper shelves, he hummed a light tune to himself. It seemed it might very well be possible to sleep now. At least, until a sound caught his attention and interest both. The doors of the guild hall creaked open and closed in short order. He went to check who might be awake at this hour beside himself.

He found the hall itself usually empty per the time of day, so no one had come in. He crossed the hall to open the door. In the middling distance he spotted Millie, the young new recruit to the guild. Now why might she be going out into town alone at this hour? Figuring it wouldn't do to let her travel alone he went to retrieve his jacket and follow her.

Given that she was already bound and determined to be on her way, Millie didn't notice that there had been movement in the guild hall on any level at all and she didn't have any reason to deter from her adventure of amusing proportions. She'd seen so many towns in her travels and she knew that each one had their own secrets. The young girl was bound and determined to discover what Harrow Town's little treasures were because it was those details that made a place feel more like home and less like a strange place. That was what her goal was in the end.

The sun was rising over the horizon as she walked and her eyes took to what little skyline there was, if it could even be called a skyline at all. Mostly, the buildings were just houses and small shops of various wares and plenty of interesting objects to sell. Millie, without hesitation or fear, walked up to each one individually and looked at it more closely. The houses she left on their own and the bakery specifically she peered into with far more intrigue. Baked goods were a delight, after all. After taking in what each one was, she continued on her way, turning down a new street when she came to one.

Not many people were moving yet, it seemed, and Millie wasn't about to complain about that. It was easier to see everything without tall people blocking her view. Millie wasn't very tall herself, after all.

However, after a few streets and blocks had been covered by the young girl's footsteps, it was hard for her to not notice that Harrow Town was indeed starting to wake up and that really wasn't a bad thing at all. In fact, if she truly wanted to explore, getting to know the people just as well as the layout of the area would be important. She passed by a couple people and waved while saying, "Good morning!" A few of them nodded to her and one or two of them said good morning in return. A large majority of them ignored her, but Millie wasn't one to be bothered by that too much.

Unaware of exactly where she was going, but unbothered by that at all, Millie eventually arrived at a fountain that was likely either on the edge of or in the center of the town. It was hard to know which from the direction she was walking, but it fascinated Millie nonetheless and she skipped right up to it, feeling the mist it sent off as it chilled her and left little sparkles on her cream colored dress. She laughed a playful laugh as she enjoyed the feeling.

"What are you laughing about!?" a voice accompanied the figure of a boy who emerged from the alleyway. Millie turned to face him and noticed that there were two others behind him, all three of them a few years older than she was and none of them looking quite happy to see her.

"You're that new Raven, aren't you?" another one snapped rather unpleasantly. "Haven't they taught you yet!? This area isn't for you to wander! Get out!" The boy stepped towards her and pushed her so that Millie tumbled straight into the water.

It was in her fall that a third noticed something about her. He saw the scar that wrapped around her neck, thick and ugly, making it look like someone had marked the place to slit her throat. "Looks like someone's already marked you for dead, girl! You're pale as a ghost too, come to mention it. How about you go back to where you came from and die already!"

Millie was trying to get up out of the fountain, but they were all standing over her, making that an extremely difficult task.

"Freak!"

"I'm not a freak. I'm... I'm M-Millie..." She was too afraid to really fight them, and they clearly weren't intending on leaving her alone.

"We don't care who you are. We're Harrow Town and we're already trying to prove to the rest of the world that we're strong! We don't need another weak link like you to protect," he literally spat on her as he said it.

Adellon found that by the time he had returned to the doors with his jacket he had lost sight of Millie. He frowned and pondered where exactly she might have gone. Shops were not open quite yet, though some of them would be prepping to. Few if anyone would be on the streets this early. Maybe she was just trying to get a lay of the land.

He bit his thumb while deciding where to look first. Deciding perhaps a superior vantage point would help him locate her faster, he approached the nearest building. He turned his hand to ink, stretched it to the edge of the roof, resolidified it and pulled the rest of himself up by retracting his arm. He dusted off his hands and began hopping from roof to roof in search.

It took a short time but eventually he found her. Unfortunately she wasn't enjoying herself like he'd assumed. She was in a fountain, three unruly boys taunting her from the edge. Adellon's thin grimace turned into a dark snarling scowl as he saw one spit on her and comment on the weak and strong. It appeared a few children needed a refresher course on manners and the consequences of breaking them.

Adellon stepped from the roof, liquefying before he hit the ground. He spread across the ground in a controlled spill before coalescing. However he made sure to spread it in a manner befitting silence. Sneaking up on the boys, he loomed behind them, using his magic to stretch and expand his body in a manner that made him appear far larger than normal.

"Please, do go on. I'd love to hear the rest of your thoughts on the weak," he said in a derisive tone.

Two of the three boys jumped quite dramatically when they heard a voice behind them, and the third one swiftly turned to see what exactly it was that had managed to sneak up on them. That boy's fright at the sight of it was enough that he proceeded to stumble backwards from there, tripping over the edge of the fountain and falling in himself, which consequently didn't do too much good for Millie. Water splashed up and into her face and she pushed herself away, only soaking her dress more in the process.

One of the two that was standing managed to find his words, though. "E-e-everyone says Harrow Town is too weak to keep the guild under control... s-sir. They... they say we let bad things fester there. S-surely we need to be strong to show them they're wrong and... she... she..." he couldn't seem to recall where he'd been going with that train of thought, though.

Somewhere along the way, Millie managed to push herself up onto the edge of the fountain and she retorted, "You're just a meanie festering here!" she yelled. "I am not a freak..." she repeated what she had already said to him once, clearly bothered more by that statement than anything else they had done to her so far.

Adellon's already dark expression turned down right abyssmal at the child's words. "Too weak? Last I checked the town was not responsible for controlling the guild. No town is responsible for such, it would be insanity to expect that. We work to PROTECT this town in the first place. Our guild, and city, are viewed as dark, cruel, criminal places because of a few bad examples. The old guild master for example."

"Yet our guild turned him in, both I and the current guild master work tirelessly with the guild and town of correct that image. Yet you stand here, pushing a girl younger than you around, spitting on her. Tell me how that helps our image? Would me pushing you three around establish the strength of the guild? Hm?" He gave deep, exorctant glances to each boy there.

"Uhm..." one the boys mumbled, grabbing the sleeve of the other boy who was still standing as both of them found themselves backed up against the fountain. Neither one of them tumbled in like the other one had, though, and the one who had tumbled into the fountain stood up and ran through the water to the other side, attempting to scurry away from the whole situation altogether.

"W-we're s-s-sorry, sir. We just thought... well... sh-she..." That train of thought didn't seem to be working for him. "We're sorry, S-sir."

Millie, meanwhile, was sliding her way out of the fountain and stepping off to the side. She was dripping wet and cold and her arms wrapped around her body, attempting to keep herself warm. She wanted to go back to the guild hall, but another part of her - and this was a part Millie hadn't even encountered in herself in as long as she could remember - wanted to see the boys afraid of what would happen next. Even as she felt that feeling, Millie felt horrible for it, though.

Adellon cast a sidelong glance at the boy who ran. No matter, he'd simply get his name from the others. He turned back and saw Millie climb from the fountain dripping and clearly cold. He shrugged out of his jacket and put it around her. Looking up at the boys he frowned deeply, but the angry look from before had waned. "It isn't me you should be apologizing to."

The two boys both looked at each other quickly and then turned ot face Millie. "W-we're sorry," The one said. The other beside him simply nodded in what his face would show as very sincere agreement.

Grabbing the jacket as Adellon put it on her shoulders, Millie pulled it tightly around herself, still shivering a bit, and she said to them, "I'm not a freak." It was still that part that was eating away at her.

One of the boys nodded along with her. "We're sorry we ever said it!" Their sincerity was wearing a bit, though. By now, both of them just wanted to get away from this whole thing.

Adellon nodded. "Better. Now, I want both your names and your friend's name. I'll be talking with your parents about this later. Don't bother lying to me, you'll find it'll only make things worse." He said it in a firm tone, but put no anger in it.

Both boys nodded and they gave their names almost robotically. Trevor, Ethan and their friend had been Robert. Almost immediately after giving them, the two didn't wait to be dismissed. They just turned around and ran off, both heading in the same direction that Robert had ran.

Millie didn't watch where they went. She didn't want to see it because she didn't want to know where they were. She wanted to forget about them completely. Looking up at Adellon, though, Millie asked, "You don't think I'm a freak, do you?" One of her hands fiddled over the scar on her neck, a scar that could've only come from something deadly and a scar that Millie really did not at all understand.

Adellon frowned as he watched the boys go, shrinking back to normal size once they were out of sight. He turned to make sure Millie was okay. "A freak? Because of a scar? Complete nonsense! I don't feel that way, nor does anyone in Raven Tail I'd bet." He gave her a small smile "Now, I think I'm a bit hungry. How about we go back to the guild so you can change. Then we can get donuts from the bakery!"

Smiling and reassured by his confident answer, Millie nodded in agreement. She still held the jacket tightly around her and she said, "I like that plan." However, she promptly realized as she turned around that she had no idea which way led back to the guild hall. "Uhm... I don't know the way back..."

Adellon blinked for a second. "Now Millie, you really must be careful to check where you go when you explore somewhere new. Come on, I'll show you the way back." He turned in the proper direction and double checked that she was following as he set off for the guild hall.

As she scurried after him, Millie reached up and wrapped her hand around his. She realized something then. It wasn't the way the town was that made a place into a home. Here, it would be her guildmates who made all the difference.

Credit To: Lady Warlock and AllHailDago

shadowdude505 · Jul 28, 2017

This brief history can be found in the first post: What's Papa Like? x768

It was a bustling morning in Magnolia. Citizens were making their way toward work or restaurants to have breakfast. One such pair of breakfast goers consisted of Fairy Tail Wizard Brooke Livre and her four-year-old daughter Skylar. Overwhelmed by the number of people, Skylar shyly hid behind her mother's leg as she walked behind her. Brooke looked down at her shy daughter and beamed a warm, maternal smile at her.

"It's alright Skylar, I'm here," Brooke said softly. She reached down a loving hand toward her daughter. Skylar quickly squeezed her mother's hand with one of her own and smiled back at her mother. Skylar slowly started to feel bolder as she held her mother's hand and soon started to walk beside her. Although she still looked a little nervous, Skylar did her best to smile at the people she passed by. She continued to smile until she realized that her mother and herself were being stared at by multiple civilians.

"A child out of wedlock, disgraceful," an old prude said to her friend.

"A wizard can do better than being a single-mother," another woman added.

More judgmental remarks were said among the citizens and their friends. Even though the words were more about Brooke and Skylar than directed at them, they still affected the shy girl. Skylar began to retreat back into her shyness; while still holding her mother's hand, she went back to hiding behind her. Brooke on the other hand looked mad. Not at the words, but at how the words caused her storybook princess to react the way she did.

Brooke quickened their pace and ducked into an alley with Skylar. Brooke pulled out one of her Storybooks and summoned the Big Bad Wolf. "Stand guard," she ordered. "I want to talk to my daughter without any interference." Wolf nodded before taking a couple steps toward the alley entrance and mentally entering guard dog mode. Luckily the bad mouthing citizens of Magnolia didn't follow them, otherwise they would have flared Wolf's temper.

Brooke crouched down onto one knee, looked her daughter in the eye, and comfortingly placed a hand on her shoulder. "Skylar, don't listen to them. They only talk from their own perspective, not from mine. There's never a day that I regret making the choice that turned me into your mother. I'll always love you, Skylar," Brooke said softly.

A small smile appeared on Skylar's face as she put her arms behind her mother's neck and hugged her. "I know," she said as she felt her mother hug her back. After hugging for a couple seconds in quiet, a question burned in Skylar's mind. Maybe it had something to do with what the citizens were saying, but she just had to ask. "Momma...wh...what's p...papa like?"

Brooke was taken aback by the question, but her smile only grew bigger after it was asked. "If you ever meet your father, you might be intimidated by him; but deep down, he's a very kind man. I don't regret the fact that he's your father," she replied. "Now then, let's get something to eat."

"OK," Skylar said cheerily. The mother and daughter pulled away from their hug and rejoined a pair of hands. Brooke returned Wolf to his Storybook and began to walk with her daughter toward the restaurant they planned to eat breakfast at.

Sophrosyne03 · Aug 6, 2017

Brief History: Eclipse of Moons: Eclipse of Moons

Crocus: Capital of Fiore

X773

Scarlet stood in front of a small, slightly dilapidated house. The house had a creepy and dark atmosphere. Scarlet sighed, “She would live in a place like this…” She walked up to the front door and knocked loudly. No response. “Violet are you there! Open the door!” Scarlet pounded on the door. Still no response. She tried the door. It creaked open. “Hello! Violet! It’s me, Scarlet! Where are you!" walking into the house she discovered it was a disorganized mess. There were clothes lying on the floor, chipped paint and torn wall paper were everywhere. None of the lights were on and eerie shadows moved across the walls. I’m sure she is here… She has always been a bit of a recluse… I bet she is trying to scare me… Scarlet pouted and looked for where her sister could be hiding. She entered a room that appeared to be the kitchen. “Where you Vi! I know you’re here!” Shuffling through the room, she started to scrutinize the disorderly room.

“How can you live in such squalaaaaah!” Something yanked Scarlet’s hair and pulled her back. Then she heard maniacal laughter. “Violet!”

“Ah ha ha ha ha! Yes Scarlet? What brings you to my humble abode?”

“I came to check up on you. Did you hear about Royce Obertuck?”

“Yes, I wonder what he’s going to do once they put him in Ilan Vair…”

“You’re not in league with him are you?! Are you practicing dark magic?!”

“Heh, I was just planning on how to break Royce out of Ilan Vair with my dark powers…”

“Really!” Scarlet gasped.

“No, you gullible idiot. I’m in the middle of getting my bachelor’s degree at the university, and I don’t care about Royce Obertuck. Though I could use something like this incident in one of my stories…”

“Oh yeah, I bought your book of poems! It’s… really unsettling… so good job I guess… So what are you planning to publish next?”

“A full out horror story probably…. Ugh, and I suppose you want me to ask how your life is going…”

“I just joined Blue Pegasus as an A-rank mage. I was hoping for an S-rank, but I know I can achieve that later. There are so many great people at the guild. When you’re done with schooling you should join.”

“No. Not for me. Those delicate flowers at Blue Pegasus couldn’t handle me. If some outside force has me joining a guild it would be Raven Tail or Sabertooth…”

“We are not delicate flowers! A bunch of interesting people have joined the guild like Jacob Foles, and a cute little boy named Leveret. He’s basically my little brother now, my little sidekick. Levi has great magical potential. We are totally going to make it into the history books.”

“You always seem to forget that I hate people. Why would I join an organization full of them?”

Scarlet sighed heavily “I wish I could understand you better Violet… I don’t think being cooped up in this disaster of a house is good for you. I want you to have friends and interact with people. I worry about you,” Scarlet paused briefly, “I will always hope you change your mind, but I won’t change it for you. If you’re happy like this, then I guess I can be a little happy for you.”

“Ugh… I hate it when you get all wishy washy on me, but I appreciate that I’m not going to be forced to go to your social gathering anymore. You do you, and I’ll do me.”

“Oh Vi… You do care!” Scarlet gave her sister a big hug.

“You’re…Crushing…Me…”

“Sorry,” Scarlet let go of her sister. Violet then started coughing violently.

“Oh no! You’re not sick again are you?”

Violet caught her breath, “No I’m fine… Now get out of my house and leave me in peace ya little goody two shoes!”

Scarlet laughed, “Okay, but expect me to check up on you again soon.”

She left as her sister let out a long groan.

Lady Warlock · Aug 6, 2017

x777: I'm Not a Freak: Millie Thorrin and Adellon Thrace
It had been early in the morning when Millie woke up and started moving on her way. The dawn welcomed what was the young girl's fourth day as a Raven Tail mage and she was surprised at herself for still not knowing much about Harrow Town yet. It was her new home, after all, so it deserved for her to know it a little bit more. She wanted to explore and given that she had been wandering nearly on her own for the past months, Millie never thought to take anyone else with her. She didn't even suspect that there would be many people awake to give her trouble in the first place. All she knew as she stepped outside was that the sunrise was beautiful and that should've been the only thing that mattered.

With a cheerful skip in her step, Millie was heading out on an adventure of explorative proportions.

Adellon rubbed at his eyes as he swiftly flipped the pages on yet another book. Having sensed it was going to be a night he didn't sleep he had made the library his refuge per usual. He had a nominally large stack of books to his right in his finished pile. This was the last one he had to read. He sipped at his cocoa mug with a smile as he finished the last few pages.

Setting about to put the books back on their proper shelves, he hummed a light tune to himself. It seemed it might very well be possible to sleep now. At least, until a sound caught his attention and interest both. The doors of the guild hall creaked open and closed in short order. He went to check who might be awake at this hour beside himself.

He found the hall itself usually empty per the time of day, so no one had come in. He crossed the hall to open the door. In the middling distance he spotted Millie, the young new recruit to the guild. Now why might she be going out into town alone at this hour? Figuring it wouldn't do to let her travel alone he went to retrieve his jacket and follow her.

Given that she was already bound and determined to be on her way, Millie didn't notice that there had been movement in the guild hall on any level at all and she didn't have any reason to deter from her adventure of amusing proportions. She'd seen so many towns in her travels and she knew that each one had their own secrets. The young girl was bound and determined to discover what Harrow Town's little treasures were because it was those details that made a place feel more like home and less like a strange place. That was what her goal was in the end.

The sun was rising over the horizon as she walked and her eyes took to what little skyline there was, if it could even be called a skyline at all. Mostly, the buildings were just houses and small shops of various wares and plenty of interesting objects to sell. Millie, without hesitation or fear, walked up to each one individually and looked at it more closely. The houses she left on their own and the bakery specifically she peered into with far more intrigue. Baked goods were a delight, after all. After taking in what each one was, she continued on her way, turning down a new street when she came to one.

Not many people were moving yet, it seemed, and Millie wasn't about to complain about that. It was easier to see everything without tall people blocking her view. Millie wasn't very tall herself, after all.

However, after a few streets and blocks had been covered by the young girl's footsteps, it was hard for her to not notice that Harrow Town was indeed starting to wake up and that really wasn't a bad thing at all. In fact, if she truly wanted to explore, getting to know the people just as well as the layout of the area would be important. She passed by a couple people and waved while saying, "Good morning!" A few of them nodded to her and one or two of them said good morning in return. A large majority of them ignored her, but Millie wasn't one to be bothered by that too much.

Unaware of exactly where she was going, but unbothered by that at all, Millie eventually arrived at a fountain that was likely either on the edge of or in the center of the town. It was hard to know which from the direction she was walking, but it fascinated Millie nonetheless and she skipped right up to it, feeling the mist it sent off as it chilled her and left little sparkles on her cream colored dress. She laughed a playful laugh as she enjoyed the feeling.

"What are you laughing about!?" a voice accompanied the figure of a boy who emerged from the alleyway. Millie turned to face him and noticed that there were two others behind him, all three of them a few years older than she was and none of them looking quite happy to see her.

"You're that new Raven, aren't you?" another one snapped rather unpleasantly. "Haven't they taught you yet!? This area isn't for you to wander! Get out!" The boy stepped towards her and pushed her so that Millie tumbled straight into the water.

It was in her fall that a third noticed something about her. He saw the scar that wrapped around her neck, thick and ugly, making it look like someone had marked the place to slit her throat. "Looks like someone's already marked you for dead, girl! You're pale as a ghost too, come to mention it. How about you go back to where you came from and die already!"

Millie was trying to get up out of the fountain, but they were all standing over her, making that an extremely difficult task.

"Freak!"

"I'm not a freak. I'm... I'm M-Millie..." She was too afraid to really fight them, and they clearly weren't intending on leaving her alone.

"We don't care who you are. We're Harrow Town and we're already trying to prove to the rest of the world that we're strong! We don't need another weak link like you to protect," he literally spat on her as he said it.

Adellon found that by the time he had returned to the doors with his jacket he had lost sight of Millie. He frowned and pondered where exactly she might have gone. Shops were not open quite yet, though some of them would be prepping to. Few if anyone would be on the streets this early. Maybe she was just trying to get a lay of the land.

He bit his thumb while deciding where to look first. Deciding perhaps a superior vantage point would help him locate her faster, he approached the nearest building. He turned his hand to ink, stretched it to the edge of the roof, resolidified it and pulled the rest of himself up by retracting his arm. He dusted off his hands and began hopping from roof to roof in search.

It took a short time but eventually he found her. Unfortunately she wasn't enjoying herself like he'd assumed. She was in a fountain, three unruly boys taunting her from the edge. Adellon's thin grimace turned into a dark snarling scowl as he saw one spit on her and comment on the weak and strong. It appeared a few children needed a refresher course on manners and the consequences of breaking them.

Adellon stepped from the roof, liquefying before he hit the ground. He spread across the ground in a controlled spill before coalescing. However he made sure to spread it in a manner befitting silence. Sneaking up on the boys, he loomed behind them, using his magic to stretch and expand his body in a manner that made him appear far larger than normal.

"Please, do go on. I'd love to hear the rest of your thoughts on the weak," he said in a derisive tone.

Two of the three boys jumped quite dramatically when they heard a voice behind them, and the third one swiftly turned to see what exactly it was that had managed to sneak up on them. That boy's fright at the sight of it was enough that he proceeded to stumble backwards from there, tripping over the edge of the fountain and falling in himself, which consequently didn't do too much good for Millie. Water splashed up and into her face and she pushed herself away, only soaking her dress more in the process.

One of the two that was standing managed to find his words, though. "E-e-everyone says Harrow Town is too weak to keep the guild under control... s-sir. They... they say we let bad things fester there. S-surely we need to be strong to show them they're wrong and... she... she..." he couldn't seem to recall where he'd been going with that train of thought, though.

Somewhere along the way, Millie managed to push herself up onto the edge of the fountain and she retorted, "You're just a meanie festering here!" she yelled. "I am not a freak..." she repeated what she had already said to him once, clearly bothered more by that statement than anything else they had done to her so far.

Adellon's already dark expression turned down right abyssmal at the child's words. "Too weak? Last I checked the town was not responsible for controlling the guild. No town is responsible for such, it would be insanity to expect that. We work to PROTECT this town in the first place. Our guild, and city, are viewed as dark, cruel, criminal places because of a few bad examples. The old guild master for example."

"Yet our guild turned him in, both I and the current guild master work tirelessly with the guild and town of correct that image. Yet you stand here, pushing a girl younger than you around, spitting on her. Tell me how that helps our image? Would me pushing you three around establish the strength of the guild? Hm?" He gave deep, exorctant glances to each boy there.

"Uhm..." one the boys mumbled, grabbing the sleeve of the other boy who was still standing as both of them found themselves backed up against the fountain. Neither one of them tumbled in like the other one had, though, and the one who had tumbled into the fountain stood up and ran through the water to the other side, attempting to scurry away from the whole situation altogether.

"W-we're s-s-sorry, sir. We just thought... well... sh-she..." That train of thought didn't seem to be working for him. "We're sorry, S-sir."

Millie, meanwhile, was sliding her way out of the fountain and stepping off to the side. She was dripping wet and cold and her arms wrapped around her body, attempting to keep herself warm. She wanted to go back to the guild hall, but another part of her - and this was a part Millie hadn't even encountered in herself in as long as she could remember - wanted to see the boys afraid of what would happen next. Even as she felt that feeling, Millie felt horrible for it, though.

Adellon cast a sidelong glance at the boy who ran. No matter, he'd simply get his name from the others. He turned back and saw Millie climb from the fountain dripping and clearly cold. He shrugged out of his jacket and put it around her. Looking up at the boys he frowned deeply, but the angry look from before had waned. "It isn't me you should be apologizing to."

The two boys both looked at each other quickly and then turned ot face Millie. "W-we're sorry," The one said. The other beside him simply nodded in what his face would show as very sincere agreement.

Grabbing the jacket as Adellon put it on her shoulders, Millie pulled it tightly around herself, still shivering a bit, and she said to them, "I'm not a freak." It was still that part that was eating away at her.

One of the boys nodded along with her. "We're sorry we ever said it!" Their sincerity was wearing a bit, though. By now, both of them just wanted to get away from this whole thing.

Adellon nodded. "Better. Now, I want both your names and your friend's name. I'll be talking with your parents about this later. Don't bother lying to me, you'll find it'll only make things worse." He said it in a firm tone, but put no anger in it.

Both boys nodded and they gave their names almost robotically. Trevor, Ethan and their friend had been Robert. Almost immediately after giving them, the two didn't wait to be dismissed. They just turned around and ran off, both heading in the same direction that Robert had ran.

Millie didn't watch where they went. She didn't want to see it because she didn't want to know where they were. She wanted to forget about them completely. Looking up at Adellon, though, Millie asked, "You don't think I'm a freak, do you?" One of her hands fiddled over the scar on her neck, a scar that could've only come from something deadly and a scar that Millie really did not at all understand.

Adellon frowned as he watched the boys go, shrinking back to normal size once they were out of sight. He turned to make sure Millie was okay. "A freak? Because of a scar? Complete nonsense! I don't feel that way, nor does anyone in Raven Tail I'd bet." He gave her a small smile "Now, I think I'm a bit hungry. How about we go back to the guild so you can change. Then we can get donuts from the bakery!"

Smiling and reassured by his confident answer, Millie nodded in agreement. She still held the jacket tightly around her and she said, "I like that plan." However, she promptly realized as she turned around that she had no idea which way led back to the guild hall. "Uhm... I don't know the way back..."

Adellon blinked for a second. "Now Millie, you really must be careful to check where you go when you explore somewhere new. Come on, I'll show you the way back." He turned in the proper direction and double checked that she was following as he set off for the guild hall.

As she scurried after him, Millie reached up and wrapped her hand around his. She realized something then. It wasn't the way the town was that made a place into a home. Here, it would be her guildmates who made all the difference.

Credit To: Lady Warlock and AllHailDago

AllHailDago · Aug 9, 2017

Adellon P. Thrace & Jacob A. Foles

Looking up from the map in his hands, Jacob stared up the sloping trail that lead up to the mountain in front of him. He floated lightly in the air on a small cloud, and he flicked some of his hair out of his face, his red eyes staring up in annoyance. He let out a deep sigh as he rolled up his map once more and placed it in his pocket. "Of all things, I have to waste my energy by going up a mountain. And what if I get all dirty, hmm? Wouldn't that mean I would have to go and clean myself up again? And I spent so much time trying to look presentable. The nerve of them..." He crossed his arms over his chest, the young boy speaking to no one but the air around him.

Adellon bit his thumb as he tried to understand where he needed to go based off the crappy map his contracter gave him. He turned it upside down, backwards, and considered inside out before he tossed it over his shoulder in annoyance. How do you fail in making a map? Especially when you need it for a mage on a mission YOU are paying them for. He sighed in deep annoyance as he simply took bearing of where he was currently. He figured he should observe the mountain from the base at a couple angles just in case.

Circling around through the bushy base of the mountain, he tried to spot smoke or telltale signs of humanity up on the moutain. Unfortunately such blatant signals of where his targets were did not present themselves. It was times like these he really wished he had a pair of binoculars. Perhaps he could find a magical pair back in Harrow Town's shop. As he came through a last bit of brush into an open field like area he spotted another person. A person floating on a cloud, angrily talking to themself. He blinked in muted surprise. Ok, he hadn't been expecting that.

Jacob perked up as he heard rustling to the right of him, and he turned to see a boy, most likely the same age as him, walk out from the bushes. He was wearing a black suit and blue tie, and had short black hair and tan skin. Jacob stared at him for a moment, awestruck, and slowly turned his gaze down to himself. He was wearing a almost stark white tuxedo and red tie, matching his hair color and eyes. This boy seemed to be nearly the complete opposite of him in terms of looks.

Jacob amazed gaze changed into a frown of dissaproval, and he floated over to the boy, his arms crossing back over his chest angrily. Once he was close enough, the cloud under him slowly dissapeared, and he landed gently on the ground. He walked up to the boy and leaned in close to look at him, narrowing his eyes. He then stood back up and jabbed his finger into the boys chest. "Who are you? Why did you follow me? And why are you dressed in the exact opposite clothes as me? Are you some sort of weird stalker?"

Jacob took a step back, holding his arm up in front of his face, a look mixed of terror and disgust on his face. "You are a stalker, aren't you? I mean, I know some girls tend to follow me around, but I never exepected a boy to be so obsessed with me..." Jacob reached to his belt, gripping the staff that was hidden under his coat. "Just who are you and what do you want? An autograph? A picture? Say it!"

Ok, if Adellon hadn't been expecting to find someone his age floating on a cloud out here, he doubly hadn't expected him to accuse him of being a stalker. He narrowed his eyes at the boy in his stark white suit and red tie, and noticed he was right. They were dressed in perfect contrast. Makes sense considering how this guy was Adellon's opposite, in other words totally full of himself. "I don't have any clue who you are, and I severely doubt anyone is out here stalking you. I'm out here on a mission to clear out a bandit camp in the mountains."

He rooted around in his pocket and found the single square of paper. Taking it out he unfolded it and showed the boy. "See. Just here on a mission is all. No need to freak out." He pursed his lips for a moment as a thought dawned on him. "Wait a second. What are you doing out here? Bird watching or something? It's pretty dangerous to be doing that near a known bandit camp. I really doubt summoning clouds is gonna help in a fight after all."

As the boy talked about not knowing him, he placed a hand on his chest and leaned back, surprised. Was the boy living under some sort of rock? How could he not know who the Pegasi Prince was? Well, Jacob assumed he was just triyng to feign ignorance, so he would be let go so he could just keep following the Blue Pegasus mage. Well, at least until he pulled out the paper and showed it to him.

Jacob leaned in to look at the paper as the boy talked, and his scowl only deepened. It wasn't that hard to forge papers like this, he knew that. He had seen people do it before. But if he knew about the bandit camps... "So maybe you are on a mission to clear out the bandit camps, though I highly doubt it. What I don't believe is how you don't know Jacob Foles, the Pegasi Prince. The newest recruit of the famous Blue Pegaus Guild. And someone who is rising quickly in popularity!"

Jacob pulled out a paper from inside of his coat, and showed it to the boy. It was a piece of paper that was cut out from a Sorceror Weekly Magazine, showing Jacob's smiling face with a quick article about him. It was actually the first interview he had gotten during his time with Blue Pegasus, right after he had became a B-Class mage. It was his most prize possesion.

"I'm here to actually stop those bandits myself, and if you think I can only make clouds, then you have another thing coming." Jacob lifted one finger, a magic circle appearing in front of it. Quickly a tentacle of water shot out, spiralling in the air, gleaming in the sunlight. "I actually have some powerful magic, along with exotic looks. So run on home, and let someone more qualified handle this. What do you say?" He grinned at the boy, ready to be showered in praise.

Adellon grimaced in deep irritation when the boy basically called him a liar. He was about to retort when he name dropped himself. The grimace reduced a bit upon recognizing the name. He had actually heard about some popular noble kid joining and succeeding in Blue Pegasus, but he hadn't paid too much attention to the rumors. Seems they were more than rumors after all. "Ah Jacob Foles. I have heard a little bit about you actually. But i don't really read Sorcerers Weekly, so I wouldn't know you by appearances."

He snorted a little bit and covered his mouth as the boy continued. "Exotic? Are you sure you're using the right word? I dont know if you noticed, but the majority of everyone in the country is white. Having red eyes doesn't make you exotic. I'm more exotic than you!" He let out a small peal of laughter and held his stomach. "Besides I think you are forgetting I'm a mage too, though recognization on sight isn't something I've got going yet either."

He held out a hand, and a small, intricately detailed magic circle appeared in his palm. A jet black raven materialized in his hand over a few seconds. Unlike Jacob's water that gleamed as sunlight reflected through it, the raven seemed to absorb all light that hit it. "My name is Adellon P. Thrace, B class of Raven Tail. Though by the time this mission is done I think they might well promote me to A" He smirked a touch malciously at Jacob. "Now, how about you go home and let someone more qualified handle this?"

Jacob's eyes brightened up as the boy said that he recognized him. Of course he did! Jacob was the stellar recuit of his Guild, so he should be known by other mages his age. But as he thought that he was about to be adored by this boy, he was quickly surprised as the boy began to laugh. Not out of finding it funny to run into someone as fantastic as Jacob, but laughing at Jacob for...what reason? Jacob was awesome, he knew that.

When he held out his hand, Jacob watched as the raven materialized, seemingly made out of a black liquid. Jacob raised his eyebrows as it took form, and he held his hands away. Whatever the boys magic was, it seemed dirty, and he would rather not get any on him. He instead took a step back, his scowl deepening.

He glared at the Raven Tail boy, but he quickly let out a sigh, running his hand through his hair. Truthfully, the insult about him not standing out much did sitng a little. It was actually something he was praised for whenever he accompanied other members of his Guild to photoshoots. He dropped his hand back to his side and reached behind him, pulling out his staff in it's minimized form.

"Listen, Aiden, or however you pronounce your name. Obviously, you don't understand that, though we may be the same rank, my magic is not something to mess with. If you want to avoid being harmed, I recommend you wait here. Any bandits that run down this way, you can deal with. But I came here to do a mission, and I won't let some nobody from a filthy guild like Raven Tail get in my way. This is my first mission solo, and I am going to prove that I can handle it myself." As Jacob spoke, the wind in the clearing began to pick up, billowing slightly against Jacob. "So, before I lose my patience..." Jacob held up the silver Staff of Lumo, squeezing it tightly. As he did, one part of it shot out, glowing faintly in the sun. "Go. Home."

Adellon had to admit he was enjoying bursting the Jacob guys' bubble a little at first. Then he decided to mispronounce Adellon's name on purpose and he got a little irritated. He was going to point out that he didn't disrespect HIS name when he said it, so doing it to him was rather rude. Petty was the word that fit it honestly. Adellon opened his mouth to point that out when Jacob made a severe mistake.

Adellon froze for several seconds. Then he slowly tilted his head to the side, face clear of any sign of emotion for a second. Nobody? Filthy guild? Adellon's jaw set in a grind of barely contained fury. "You have one, and only one, chace to apologize for insulting my guild. Take it, or I'm going to use your obnoxious face to clean the mud from my shoes." The raven in his hand squawked and seemed to grow three or four times bigger, its eye starting to gleam red.

Jacob stood silently as the boy began to get angrier. Jacob's scowl slowly turned into a slight grin. It seems he had struck a nerve. Jacob lifted up his staff and brought it down quickly, a whistling sound acompanying it, and some mist leaking out of both ends of it. He had grown accustomed to the weight in the two-thirds form to where he could lift it on his own without his magic. He lifted it up again, and brought it down with one more swing, this time bringing it close to the ground. As he did, the grass below it moved slightly from the force of the swing.

"There are three people I'll apologize to, Aaron. The first one, is the man who saved my life. The second, it my Guildmaster. And the third, is my blood brother. And, if I'm right, then you are not one of those three. So I'm afraid I'm gonna have to decline my one chance and show you that you're biting off more than you can chew." Jacob lifted his free hand, where a gray magic circle appeared.

Jacob turned his body, bringing his feet just barely apart, and held his staff in front of him like a sword. He held it at a perfect forty-five degree angle, and his grin grew slightly. "Let's dance, Raven."

Adellon didn't waste any more time on words. Honestly as angry as he was it'd likely only turn into screamy growls. Instead he tossed his arm up and the raven took flight straight for Jacob, midway between the two Adellon pointed at the raven and it exploded into a blast of inky spray headed straight for Jacob. As it did Adellon's body started to darken as his skin and clothes turned into ink. At least it did for a moment or so, before he slowly shimmered out of sight. Ink became invisible ink and Adellon winked out of the visual realm of existence.

Jacob's eyes watched as the raven exploded in front of him. However, Jacob had predicted something like this. He quickly switched his body around, placing his front foot back behind his back one, and threw his free hand forward, where the gray magic circle still shone. Holding it straight in front of him, he pointed it at the ink flying straight towards him. "Wind Blast!" Suddenly, a burst of wind shot out of the circle, connecting with the ink and stopping it in it's tracks, making it then fall to the ground.

When Jacob noticed that Adellon was nowhere in sight, he quickly created a light blue magic circle, and aimed it at his feet. Mist shot down at his feet, quickly forming a cloud, and Jacob used it to lift himself up into the air. As he rose up, he began to scan the clearing, wondering where his opponent had gone. He held tightly onto his staff, and moved his other hand to the sword at his hip.

Adellon stared up at the coward floating in the air, staying up there when he started this fight. He held his hands palm towards the ground, magic circles pouring out smalle ravens here and there until he had perhaps ten full grown ink ravens around him. He smirked as he sent half of them flying straight for Jacob, uncloaking them part way to him. Meanwhile he sent the other half to attack him invisibly from behind. While the birds flew he busided himself making a whip of ink in his right hand. Swords and such were many maker mages favorite weapon, but he favored whips and other unpredictable weapons much more.

Jacob watched as the ravens flew at him. It was a very fitting attack, but Jacob didn't have much time to be impressed. Lifting up his free hand once more, a dark blue magic circle appeared above his head. While he didn't like resorting to his more taxing spells, he didn't have a choice. He had little time. The circle shone quickly, and a large bubble appeared around Jacob. He then created more clouds inside the bubble, covering his person inside the bubble until all that could be seen was fog as the ravens from the front and something else from the back collided with the bubble, covering it in ink, adding another cloack of invisibility to the Pegasus inside.

Adellon sneered as his ravens smacked against a bubble of air. Lucky he made it a full bubble, rather than a front blcoking shield. However, it seemed the ink from his birds coated the bubble rather than falling off. Adellon smiled, darkening the invisible ink and his own body back to its original black. He created a second whip with his left hand as he smiled up at the blind boy in a bubble. That might help him at the moment, but one shouldn't fight blind.

Adellon whipped out one of his whips at a tree, wrapping it several times around before constricting it. then he extended the other and whipped it out towards the bubble. He expanded it on contact so it could get a grip all the way around. Then he began pulling as hard as he could to try and bring him to the ground, the tree acting as a way to stabilize himself. He'd figure how to pop the bubble when he could touch it.

Jacob sat in the bubble, surrounded by thick clouds, wondering how he was going to get out. The bubble was his ultimate defense, though it made him almost a sitting duck. As it was now, he was completely blinded, and he couldn't tell what was going on outside. If he popped the bubble as it was, he would be caught, because he was sure the ink surrounding the bubble was still under Adellon's control. Thus he could be easily captured that way.

Suddenly, Jacob recieved an idea. He just needed a way to make it out of the bubble without being covered in ink. Which meant he couldn't let the ink get close to him. He held his hands out, pushing all the mist inside of the bubble to the walls of it. Once he did, he changed his staff back into it's sheathed shape, and grinned wickedly as he stared at it. "Oh, this'll be a surprise..."

Adellon felt a shift in the magic bubble as it neared the ground. It seemed almost... less durable somehow. He smirked as he laid the bubble down on the ground and released the whip from the tree. Instead he wrapped it around the bubble along with the other one and proceeded to squeeze as hard as he could. He would pop that bubble and this smug jerk would find just how out of his depth he REALLY was!

Jacob closed his eyes as he felt the pressure within the bubble grow from whatever outside source there was. What he was about to do was completely new to him. He had never tried something like this before, but if it worked, he could use this in so many new ways. He brought his staff back down and gripped the staff in his hands. As he did, he felt more of the pressure within the bubble growing even more. Jacob smiled, and held up his hand, a blue magic circle again appearing. "Well, here goes nothing." Jacob then began to shrink the bubble.

It shrunk more and more as Adellon continued squeezing it from the outside. Jacob shrunk it until his head and rear scrapped against the walls of the bubble. He could barely breath now, with the pressure. But he was confident. He would prove that this boy was no match for him. 'Now, what should I call this move...Ah.' Jacob snapped his fingers. 'Bubble Bomb sounds cute.'

And with that, the bubble popped, and a forceful blast shot out in all directions, sending a huge cloud of mist in every direction, knocking all the ink that had surrounded the bubble far away from the mage inside. The cloud rose up into the sky to almost twenty meters, and the wind made the trees and bushes thrash around from the force.

Adellon could feel as the bubble condensed further and futher. He swore with each moment he was closer to crushing it and redoubled his efforts. He finally felt it start to falter when suddenly it burst. The blast was far more than Adellon expected, and his ink body was splattered apart and spread across the open field. What this felt like to Adellon wasn't exactly pain, as he currently wasn't in a form that had nerves. But it definitely had negative mental feedback which seemed to feed his anger more than anything. When he refomred, oh boy...

Adellon began to coalesce as a pool of ink maybe an inch thick on the ground. As he gathered enough ink to extend upwards he started with his feet and slowly but surely built the legs. Over the course of maybe thirty seconds his body, while a bit amorphous, was whole again. "Well Jacob, I have to say. That little trick of yours was more effective than most. Been a while since anyone sprayed me that far apart. Impressive!" He slowly clapped, resulting in a partially solid, partially liquid slapping noise. "Let's see what else you have up your sleeve eh?"

From within the mist, Jacob's voice could be heard clearly, though any visibility of him was zero. "Well, I'm known to put on a good show. However, this fight is all but won for me. Honestly, I thought you would be able to put up just a bit more of a fight." A slight sillouette appeared in Adellon's vision, of red eyes glowing in the fog, before quickly disappearing. "But all shows must come to an end."

Then, all of a sudden, Adellon would feel a cold hand on his shoulder. Jacob stood right behind him, almost as if he materialized straight from the fog itself, a fist raised up with a small twister spinning around it. "Sorry if this hurts a little." Then, with tremendous speed, Jacob threw the punch straight at his opponents face, almost like a bullet.

Adellon laughed for a second at the other boys boast. However the laugh was cut short as he felt him grab onto his shoulder, Jacob's fingers sinking a few inches into the ink that made up Adellons shoulder. Then his other fist met Adellons face, and for the second damn time he had to deal with the mental feedback of part of him being splattered over a wide area. Instead of trying to pull the ink from the ground back to him this time he put his hand over the empty stump of his neck and a magic ring appeared. As it moved upwards his head refromed out of ink.

After a few seconds he smirked at Jacob. He resolidified, Jacobs hand being pushed to the surface of his shoulder as it became fleash and bone again. "You know, that could have really hurt. I mean, the feedback wasn't pleasant, but man if i'd been solid... would my face be red." He gripped Jacob's arm with the arm who's shoulder he was grabbing. "But why I don't stay solid for a bit and give you a shot to do more than a minor discomforts worth of damage?" He turned his jaw to the side and patted his cheek. "Come on. Free shot!"

Jacob raised one eyebrow, looking at Adellon's cheek. He took a step back and scratched his chin. "A free shot you say? Well, I'm certainly not one to let an offer like that go...maybe I should actually do some work, then?" And with that, the Jacob standing behind Adellon slowly disintergated into mist, with dust and pebbles falling from the arm he had grabbed the man with and a rock falling from the fist he had used to punch.

Then, from the front of Adellon, Jacob once more appeared, this time weilding his staff in two-thirds mode. "Batter up." Bringing it up to his shoulder, he then swung it forward like a baseball bat, smashing it into Adellons stomach. "Did you know that it's easy to make a single mist clone? No struggle at all."

Adellon frowned as the clone melted away and gasped in pain as the staff connected with his stomach. He wheezed for a second before collecting himself. "You know, I give you... a free shot for my face, and you waste it on parlor tricks and a stomach shot. There's so little enjoyment for the audience when you hit someone in the stomach." He let out a low laugh. "Especially when I'm aware you're little clone isn't really you. You see, there's something no one who ever fights me realizes."

He pointed to Jacobs collar bone, where a thin layer of pale blue ink was creeping towards Jacob's throat. "I can control any ink, including the ink in tattoos." He stood up all the way and stepped towards Jacob. "You see, this fight was over when it started." He turned his head and popped his neck. "You see, I didn't want to fight you. I didn't mock YOUR name. I didn't call YOU a nobody. AND I SURE AS HELL DIDN"T INSULT YOUR GUILD!" He reeled back and headbutted Jacob in the nose. He held the spot on his head in pain, fogetting that headbutts hurt the attacker too.

"Now, apologize so I can get back to my business. I really don't care if we both work on this mission separately. But I'm not just going to let you badmouth my guild like everyone else. We're not the ones going around bullying other guild's children after all." He sneered derisively. "Now, apology. Please." He added the last word begrudgingly.

Jacob knelt down on the ground, holding his nose. Pain spread across his whole face, and when he pulled his hands away, he saw them covered in blood from his nose. There was no way it wasn't broken. He gritted his teeth as he bent down so his forehead was placed against the cool ground. The mist began to slowly disperse, leaving just the two teenagers in the field by themselves.

Jacob groaned on the ground, trying to get himself together. He pushed himself up off the ground, and stared up at Adellon. Blood still dripped down his face, making it's way onto his tuxedo, staining it crimson red. This may not be the worst pain Jacob ever felt, but it certainly was up there. Jacob placed both of his fists against the ground, and bent his head down.

"So what...if the fight was over when it started...? Was it so wrong to want to try and be something more than just a pretty face? I had the chance to show that Blue Pegasus could stand up to Raven Tail, and Sabertooth, and Fairy Tail. We can fight, too. We can help people. We aren't just dress-up dolls." Jacob looked up at Adellon, tears beginning to well up in his eyes.

"You Ravens, who have so many awesome mages. Who have so many awesome powers. I wanted to prove that we shouldn't be underestimated. I want to rise up and become a strong mage like the rest of them. I've fought on death's door, and what do people know me for? 'Oh, he's the cute little recruit. What looks he has. Make him a fashion star'." Jacob threw his arms out, gritting his teeth. "So go ahead and berate me. I deserve it." Jacob let his arms fall, and he looked down at the ground once more. "What I did wasn't right. I was jealous of the power of you Ravens. I was angry that you came here when I wanted to show my strength. And I was sad that I couldn't even land a blow on you without you giving it to me."

Jacob gave a half-hearted whistle, and his staff flew from where it was a few feet away back towards it's owner. He placed it back inside his coat. He waved his hand. "What I did was childish, but I will not apologize for just being human. Right now, those bandits are a problem, and I'm in no condition to fight. So go ahead, Mister Hero." Jacob pushed back so he was sititng on the floor with his legs sprawled out in front of him, leaning on his arms behind him as he stared at the sky. "If you waste any more time beating a dead horse, someone innocent may get hurt."

Adellon blinked, unprepared for such a wordy speech. "You...... are a giant dumbass." He shook his head and let out a laugh that held zero condescension. "Jacob, if you wanted to fight me to see if you measured up you could've just said so. I love testing myself against different people. I, of everyone you could have pulled this pretty body speech on, understand what it's like to be judged based on your guild. I don't do that. To be awesome and strong doesn't mean someone else has to be nothing. I mean, you blew me across a fifty foot square area!"

He shook his head in disbelief. "You know how many peoples asses you would've kicked had that been used on people who can't just reform from attacks?! I never thought you were dress up dolls, I wouldn't ever deried you with a sterotyped prejudice. ALL I want is for people to recognize that members of Raven Tail aren't criminals just because of our guild. Rumors, hatred, stupid attacks on our members when we are trying to HELP people. At least whe someone makes a comment about your guild they don't do it while punching nine year old's in the face."

He extended a hand to Jacob. "Now are you going to get up and help me punt these idiot bandits into space? Because last i checked they attack at night, so they wont be expecting us during the day!" He gave a small smile. "All you have to do is say your sorry for insulting Raven Tail. Everything else is water under the bridge." The truth of this came through in his tone. He wouldn't waste time lying about something like this.

Jacob looked at the hand that was offered to him, then back up to Adellon, then back to the hand. He sighed, and gripped it, accepting the boy's help. When he was up, he looked down at his blood-stained clothes. "I guess the two of us have some similariities, huh? Alright, alright. I apologize." He gently touched his nose, wincing in pain. "I would rather you didn't cave my face in at all."

Jacob very lightly scrunched his face up, and looked up the mountian. "You know, after we beat the crap out of these guys, how about you come and join Blue Pegasus? You definitely have skills, and an attractive face to boot." He chuckled. "I mean, if I had been a little faster and not to dumb, it probably wouldn't look so pretty when I'm done with you."

Adellon snorted. "Similarities? Sure." He extended his ink out over Jacob's clothes, thickening it in areas of dirt and blood, and pulled it away along with the aforementioned detritus. "Also, there is no chance in the world you would've pulled that off. If i'd not been in the mood to face slam you I would've just choked you out with your tattoo at the start." He smirked. "I'm gonna have to decline thanks. I'm gonna be Raven Tail's strongest member, and I'll make everoyne realize that we arent the criminals and monsters they say we are." He looked up the mountainside. "Now, how about we get up there and rearrange someone ELSES face?"

Jacob shrugged. "Your loss. You and I could kick some major ass together." Jacob cracked his knuckles quickly, beginning to walk towards his original destination. "How about a little challenge? Whoever beats more bandits wins?" Sticking his tongue out at Adellon, he quickly created a cloud under his feet, floating up towards the mountain. "Don't worry, I'll get them worn down for you!"

Adellon shook his head. "We can do that without being in the same guild y'know." He watched as Jacob flew up on his dang cloud. "Ah, challenge eh?" He smiled wolfishly at Jacob's disappearing form. He took off up the mountainside. "Challenge accepted!"

Refaulted

Lady Warlock

simj26 · Aug 9, 2017

Constanze von DisastreX770

The same table, number 45, parked right next to the window, overlooking the lights of Crocus. The same order, a medium rare steak, the finest aged wine, and a slice of chocolate truffle cake, with a single candle atop. The same music in the air, smooth jazz with dulcet tones on the vocals. The same sounds, chatter and laughter in the air of couples and families around her. Twice now, the waiter had offered to pour out two glasses of wine for her, but she declined. There was no one to raise a toast with her, after all.

She ate slowly, letting the night pass as much as it could. As inevitable as the moon would rise in the night sky, her plate waned out in contents, leaving only smudges of sauce on its porcelain face. As was routine, she called for the dessert, to end this night of a meaningless practice. It was not that she was adverse to it, she thought as she raised the glass to her lips and took a sip of the oaky wine. She was simply attached to a tradition that had endeared itself to her. She was loathe to be rid of it. To her, it was another reminder that she was alive, and perhaps one that time forgets no one, as well.

The chocolate truffle arrived. The candle was lit. When the waitress offered for a birthday song, she declined politely. The girl, a part timer, she supposed, scurried away at that. It would be a sight indeed to see a grown woman alone being serenaded. She did not like being ‘a sight’. As she cut through the moist softness of the cake with her fork, she opened up the card that had arrived in the mail to the inn she had been shacking up in. Inside, were messages written by her father and mother. It was easy to tell which was whose. The strong, bold letters, well-spaced and legible, were her father’s. The cursive script beside those that flowed through the page were her mother's. Amongst the chatter, the double bass, the drums, and the trumpet in the background, she could barely make out the voices that the card was emanating. A birthday song, it seemed, sung by none other than her parents. An enchanted birthday card. They never changed. She exhaled sharply from her nose in amusement, and let herself show a wry smile to no one in particular, then put the cake to her mouth. She washed the taste down with another sip of wine, emptying her glass. She called for a refill and hummed along to the last strains of the song coming from her card.

When it ended, she leaned back onto her chair, holding onto the neck of a recently filled glass, and let the rest of the night pass. The same table. The same order. The same music, the same sounds. It was going to be the same for the rest of her life.

AtlannianSpy · Aug 9, 2017

x775: Idle Hands and an Empty Stomach: Viridian Lannerly

"FRESH PRODUCE FOR SALE! APPLES! TOMATOES! CARROTS! ANYTHING YOU NEED STRAIGHT FROM THE FARM!"

Douglas sighed and wiped his the sweat from his steel grey hairline with a wiry forearm. Douglas had sold a bit less then usual so far, not enough to be worried about but enough that hauling it all back to the farm would be a nuisance. But his late on the afternoon most everyone who wanted to buy fruit and vegetables had already done so, there wasn't much point sticking around much longer. The old man sighed, packing up was his least favorite part of market day, these days his back wasn't fully up to it, it wasn't so bad in the morning but after a long day standing on his feet hawking produce packing everything up was just that little bit too much strain. His grandson had bought him a fancy, mechanical loader to attach to the back of his truck and that had helped.. While the blasted thing had worked, after no more than two months the blasted thing had jammed up and he had no idea how to get it working again.

Douglas looked around, hoping to spot a few more customers, it looked like he was out of luck. Aside from the other stall keepers, most of whom were already packing up themselves, there were only a few, scattered people drifting towards the exit. Oh and the kid. The kid, Douglas couldn't even tell whether it was a boy or girl from here, was on the scrawny side and had been there all day. At first Douglas had assumed from their restless manner that they were waiting to meet someone but they'd been waiting all day if that was the case and judging by the creases and dirt on their clothes they'd slept here the night before as well. Since the clothes themselves were actually pretty fancy under all that this was likely a runaway.

"Want an apple?" Douglas asked, calling and holding one of the shiny, red fruits out. The kid seemed to take a moment to even realize they were being addressed and then turned to look at him, revealing soft features and bright eyes that regarded him suspiciously from behind a pair of glasses. Probably a girl Douglas decided.

"No thank you," said the kid finally, definitely a girl.

"You sure? It's the end of the day, they're going cheap,"

"I have no money not little money," said the girl, sounding annoyed. "I don't want one anyway,"

There was a brief silence between the two, punctured suddenly by a surprisingly fierce rumbling. The girl looked away, her cheeks red.

"Look why don't you give me a hand packing all this up?" Douglas suggested, gesturing at the crates of produce around his little stall. "That'd save my back a fair bit of trouble, it'd certainly be worth some apples I'm not even going to be able to sell anymore."

There was another brief pause and then the girl silently unfolded herself and stood up from the bench, walking over to pick up a crate of apples and taking it towards the truck. The next few minutes passed in busy silence as the pair of them loaded everything onto the truck. The girl wasn't exactly suited to this kind of work, between her small frame and skinny arms, but she attacked the task with impressive enthusiasm now that she had decided to do it. Once or twice Douglas tried to take some of the heavier crates off her hands only to have her clutch possessively at them and push past him. In this fashion they wrapped up the task much earlier than Douglas would have working by himself.

"Why don't you just use the loader? Then you wouldn't have to go around hiring strangers off the street," The girl was leaning against a wall, holding the bag of apples Douglas had separated out for her and was eating one, obviously trying very hard not simply scoff the whole thing in seconds. Douglas himself had taken a minute to light a cigar and watch the sunset so the question took him by surprise.

"Mm? Ahh well, damn thing's broken," Douglas said between puffs. "Can't figure out what's wrong with it, never had much of a head for machines and the like to be honest,"

There was a soft crunch as the girl finished her apple and then walked over to crouch by the truck, inspecting the loader curiously. "It looks like part of the joint here snapped off, it's supposed to hook in up here as well," she said after a few seconds. "It might have been overloaded at some point or it could simply have been poor quality to begin with. Hold on,"

Douglas leaned over to see what the girl was doing and blinked in astonishment as a small magic circle appeared around her hand and a small piece of iron shaped like the broken part materialized. Working with laser like focus the girl removed the broken part and replaced it with the new one. Standing up the girl activated the loader and they watched together as, after some brief resistance it began moving correctly, eliciting some clapping from Douglas.

"Well I'll be! I didn't realize you were a mage! Say if you want a hot meal on top of those apples there's a few things back at the farm I could get you to take a look at"....

Two Days Later...

Viridian sighed, happy to be on her own again as she set off down a dirt road. The morning sun took the edge off the chill in the air and lent everything a warm, golden glow. In the end Douglas and his wife had insisted she spend two nights and had only let her leave once they loaded her up with enough preserved food for three days, a second set of traveling clothes and a pack to carry everything. All in exchange for a few simple repairs. Douglas had been emphatic that the repairs would save them both a great deal of effort over time, Viridian supposed that operating a farm at that age would be fairly demanding without the help of machinery.

The old couple had tried to convince her to stay a few more days, but they didn't actually have anything else for her to fix and Viridian didn't really want to take advantage of their kindness. Besides that she felt a need to move on anyway, Viridian wasn't sure exactly what she was looking for but she hadn't found it just yet that was for sure. Besides the thought of traveling on her own was much less intimidating now, knowing that there were likely plenty of other people to help in the same way in exchange for food or whatever else she needed. Viridian shifted her pack around to sit more comfortably on her back and quickened her pace a little, all of a sudden eager to see where the road ahead would lead.

Sophrosyne03 · Sep 5, 2017

Brief History: Roses at University: Roses at University

Crocus: Capital of Fiore

X778

“Do you know why I have called the two of you here?” Deryn addressed to her younger sister Julie and cousin Max. They were standing before Deryn in her small rented apartment close to the university campus.

“To have a freak out about the semester finals? Relax, Deryn we’ll do just fine on the finals on our own. Right Max?” Julie exclaimed with confidence as she elbowed Max, looking for his support on the matter.

"Oh!....Of course. Fear not, dear cousin. I can assure you that your assistance in my education thus far has been more than enough to help me pass my finals…”Max did his best to look confident, but a small bead of sweat rolled down his face. He knew he should study more for the finals, but found Deryn’s studying approach to be overbearing.

“You can’t fool me. I know that both of your performances through the semester thus far has been lackluster,” Deryn paused to adjust her glasses, “It is a great privilege to get an education from a university, especially the university here in the beloved capital of Fiore. I will not let you to waste it.” Deryn then walked to a small end table, and picked up two small notebooks.

“Take these. I have outlined a schedule for studying for the both of you. Naturally, I will be supervising your studying to make sure you don’t slack off. Tardiness for study sessions will not be acceptable. If you don’t show up, you can have no doubt that I will find you, and drag you back here. That will be all for now.” Deryn motioned for her two guests to leave. Max and Julie let out heavy sighs as they left Deryn’s apartment.

“I suppose it was crazy to think she would let us off the hook,” Julie said with her head hung low, as the two of them walked away from Deryn’s apartment, “Deryn means well, but she can be way too controlling sometimes.”

“She has helped me a great deal, I suppose, but her study methods are so boring. I simply cannot focus through this scholarly slog.” Max sighed. He then flipped though the study schedule notebook. “It truly will be a book learning trudge, she has us studying almost nonstop for the next few days before finals. There is hardly any time to sleep or eat, let alone having the time to socialize with anyone”

“Ugh! How am I supposed to find the wealthy man of my dreams if I’m stuck indoors studying with my sister all day! And I suppose you wanted to go out on the town to chat up the ladies…” Julie smiled playfully at her cousin, “But our lives aren’t in service to the goddess of knowledge yet. Danny Blackburn’s parents are going out of town on business, and he is having a huge house party tonight.”

“Danny Blackburn…. Isn’t the Blackburn family a very prominent merchant family?”

“Yeah, they have been super wealthy for decades. That family knows how to network like nobody’s business.”

A smile grew across Max’s face, “Alright. Let’s go.”

***************************************************************************************************************************

“This game’s great. I can’t believe your genius in creating it Danny.” Max slurred as he tossed a small hollow ball at a cluster of cheap cups full of beer on a large table.

“Yeah I know right! I call it Beer Ball.” Danny replied. Max’s toss hit the lip of one of the cups and fell in.

“Drunk already Max? You’re unbelievable, every time we go out I drink you under the table.” Julie laughed as she took the ball out of the cup and chugged the beer inside it.

“It looks like just about anyone can drink Max under the table.” Danny laughed along with Julie.

“Hey, that just means that I start having fun earlier than you.” Max slurred as he laughed.

“How true, now let’s turn this party up to an eleven….”

***************************************************************************************************************************

As Deryn was walking home after a long day of work and shopping, her mind wandered, I should have everything ready for helping Maxwell and Julie study for finals… It was very late, and the sun had set many hours ago. The late fall air was very chilly, and Deryn shivered in the cold.

Her long walk back to her apartment had her passing the Blackburn residence. Deryn heard the noises of the party before even seeing the large estate. “Hmph, sounds like that dimwitted idiot Danny is trashing his parents’ house while they are away. I suppose it was only due to his family’s wealth that the university even let that degenerate enroll at all.” Stopping in front of the grand Blackburn estate, she could see flashing lights coming from the windows. The noise of what could barely qualify as music, was so loud it caused Deryn’s body to vibrate and make her feel ill. I hope Julie and Maxwell aren’t in there. They would do well not to associate with Danny Blackburn….But they have fallen in with rowdy partygoers before…

“You’re up rather late Deryn? Out on business?”

Deryn jumped at the sudden appearance of Ace Rose, another member of the extended Rose family tree.

“Don’t startle me like that Ace. I was just on my way home. I am in the process of assisting Julie and Maxwell in their studies for their finals.”

“How kind of you. Don’t push them too hard okay,” Ace smirked, “And maybe when I get some extended time off work, all of us can hang out. You can finally introduce me to your sister and your cousin”

Deryn gave him a small smile, she had only recently met Ace herself. She deliberately went out of her way to meet him, as he was a valuable information source, in her quest to catalog and draw out the massive Rose family tree. Ace was a police officer and aspiring detective. “May I inquire what your business is here?”

“Well the police department has gotten numerous noise complaints from the Blackburn residence. So, some of us were dispatched to investigate the matter. I just used my high-speed magic to get here ahead of the others.”

“Ah yes. I should have deduced that for myself. My cousin Maxwell is a high-speed mage as well you know.”

“Really? Well I hope I get to meet him someday. We could have a race.” Ace laughed.

“Are you going in?”

“Not until my backup arrives. I wouldn’t want to take on a hoard of drunk college students on my own.” Ace shrugged.

“Well then, I must excuse myself then. I’m going inside to make sure certain people I will not name are not at this ruckus of a party.”

Deryn felt sick to her stomach as she walked through the hordes of intoxicated party goers. Those two better not be here… She searched through the crowd for her sister and her cousin.

“Hey baby, where’ve you been my whole life?” Some guy said as he pulled Deryn into an uncomfortable hug.

“Where I have been is none of your business, you drunk delinquent.” Deryn said as she deftly twisted herself out of his grasp and continued her search.

Maybe they aren’t h-…Oh wait there they are….Anger rose up in Deryn as she spotted both Max and Julie. They were at opposite sides of the room. Each of them drunkenly flirting with members of the opposite sex. As Deryn made her way towards them loud mummers were being propagated through the thick crowds. Ace and the other officers had obviously made their entrance it would appear… I better get Julie and Maxwell out of here fast. If they get arrested it will throw of my study schedule… She quickly grabbed Max and Julie by the ears “Party’s over you two. You have no idea how upset I am with the both of you right now. I don’t have time to lecture you at the moment, we are leaving. NOW.”

The mummers turned into yelling and screaming as the cops started to break up the uproarious house party. Deryn didn’t bother to listen to Max and Julie’s heavily slurred protests as she hurried them to the back entrance of the Blackburn estate.

***************************************************************************************************************************

“Ugh…”Julie and Max moaned simultaneously. They both had bad hangovers from drinking the night before. Deryn had dragged them back to her place to crash for the rest of the night, and then ‘graciously’ went to each of their places of residence to get the materials needed for their next few days of studying.

“I hope you are pleased with yourselves. This is what you get for acting like animals instead of civilized adults,” Deryn pointed at Julie, “I can guarantee you no wealthy lord worth his salt will want a drunken mess of a woman,” Deryn then pointed to Max, “And your behavior is not suited to the next head of the Rose estate. You are supposed to be a gentleman of the highest regard, respected by all. Not some drunk kid wallowing away his days in excess. Women want a strong, confident, and thoughtful gentleman, that will trust and respect them. Remember that if and when you eventually decide to settle down.”

Julie and Max both sighed. They could offer up no rebuttal. Through his terrible headache, a thought flashed through Max’s head. His lips curled up in a faint smile, Perhaps Deryn is right, I might attract more women if I am a gentleman….

“The moral lesson is over. Now, take some medicine for your hangovers and take some water to hydrate yourselves. We will now begin studying for finals.”

Refaulted · Nov 21, 2017

Jacob Foles and Adellon Thrace
Jacob looked at himself in the mirror, gently holding his chin in one of his hands as he turned his head side to side, admiring the job done on his face. He had done most of the makeup by himself, as he had learned to do so through the years of working in the Blue Pegasus Guild. Of course, his most frequent makeup artist, Lucas, did some finishing touches, but Jacob was proud that he had done so well himself this time around. The light blush on his cheeks to give him a bit more color, some eyeliner, among other things.

Standing up, Jacob walked across the dressing room to the closet where all his clothes were stashed for today's shoot. Most of the things Jacob had to wear could wait until later, as he would be only doing a few photos at first. So he could dress rather plainly for now. Reaching into the closet, he grabbed a few articles of clothing that seemed the most comfortable: a white button-up shirt made of some soft material, black slacks, and some wool socks. Putting it all on, he left the top few buttons of his shirt open, exposing most of his chest, and the Blue Pegasus symbol on his collarbone. Feeling content with how he looked, he threw on his black dress shoes and walked out the door into the hallway.

Turning, he walked to the next room over, looking up at the name on the door and snickering. He still had no idea how he had managed to actually convince him to do it, but Jacob was pretty proud of himself. Especially since he knew what was in store for the rest of the day. He lifted his hand and, taking a deep breath, knocked three times on the door, smiling as he called out. "Adellon? Are you almost ready?"

Adellon pulled the door open to face Jacob. His face was somewhat shinier than normal, if not a bit paler. They told Adellon it was so the cameras would capture images better or some such nonsense. Mostly it made him itch and irritated his eyes. Adellon glared daggers at Jacob, clearly not pleased with the situation.

He wiped his sweaty palms on his charcoal grey slacks. At least they'd given him a tasteful suit and tie at his request. He straightened the scarlet tie and pulled at his cuffs. "Remind me Jacob, how in the world I let you talk me into this?"

Jacob chuckled and walked past Adellon, making his way into his fellow mage's room and looking around, though it wasn't much different from Jacob's own dressing room next door. "That remains a mystery even to me, Adellon. However, I am glad you're doing it." Turning back to the Ink Mage, he spread his arms out to the side of him. "Honestly, it's enjoyable, dressing up and putting makeup on. The whole situation is...exhilarating. You'll come to enjoy it as time goes on."

Walking back over to the man, Jacob grabbed Adellon's chin, turning his head from side to side, examining the work done, impressed. "I'm curious who did it. Was it Lucas? He's the short man with blonde hair and a rather wide smile. Or was it some other makeup artist the studio sent to take care of you? Whoever it was, they definitely did a good job. You look ready for everything we will be doing today."

Adellon spluttered as Jacob grabbed his face, grimacing after he let go. "I'll thank you not to do that again! Also, it was a diminutive redheaded woman. Cherise I believe she said her name was." He dusted nervously at his pristine pant legs. "What exactly ARE we doing today? Besides a photo shoot I have no further details."

Jacob pulled his hand back, frowning slightly, but he quickly wiped it away. Walking over to the chair in front of the makeup table, he turned it around and sat down in it, pushing the hair out from over his face quickly. "Mostly we will just be doing simple photos, nothing too extreme to get you warmed up. Some pose shots with you standing in different positions, different angles and the like. I set us up with one of my more favorite photography crews, led by someone I met when I was first starting out as a mage. I've done most of my shoots with her, with most of my more memorable ones being her works. She's great with those new to the scene, so you shouldn't have anything to worry about. Just follow her instructions, and you'll be golden. I'll also go first for a few shots to show you mostly what happens, then I'll let her take over and show you the ropes. Sound good to you?"

Adellon pursed his lips and scratched at his jaw. "If nothing else it allows me to take a peek into a career I have been pestered about doing for some time. I can see what is is I've been...... missing out on," he said with a doubtful tone. "You are more than welcome to show me how it's done. Though I don't think it should be too complex, personally." He tucked an errant hair behind his ear. "Shall we then?"

Nodding his head, Jacob stood up from his seat and made his way to the door. "Well, we will keep things as simple as we can, as it is your first time. However, Ms. Quinn can be...rather hard-headed at times, depending on her mood. So just listen to her and you will be out of here in no time." Walking out the door, Jacob led Adellon down the hallway, briefly stopping by his room. "Just one moment." Opening his door, he lifted a finger and spun it briefly, and his Staff flew over from under a pile of sheets, landing in Jacob's hands. Closing the door, Jacob shrugged. "I feel more at ease when I have it with me."

Jacob and Adellon walked down the hallway, finally reaching their destination. Opening the door, Jacob led Adellon inside. The room was about twice the size of Jacob and Adellon's dressing rooms, with almost every wall and the ceiling being pitch black, with only a single ceiling light above that shone brightly on the set-up. Multiple cameras were set up facing the one wall that wasn't black, with it instead being a stark white color, similar to a canvas. The canvas material stretched down across a part of the floor as well. A few standing lights shone down on the canvas. In one corner, a group of people huddled.

Most of them were dressed casually, but one woman definitely stood out. She towered over the rest of them, standing well above Jacob and Adellon. She wore a black business suit, and had bright blonde hair pulled into a bun, with some hair covering one of her eyes, which were blue. As soon as Jacob and Adellon entered, her head turned to them. The previous annoyed look she had was suddenly replaced with joy as she pushed her way through the crew and nearly ran over to Jacob enveloping in a giant hug. "Oh, Jakey! It's so nice to see you! I haven't seen you in the last few months, so I thought that you didn't want me to take your pictures anymore!" Some tears began to fall from her eyes as she pushed Jacob back slightly, looking him over. "My, you're as beautiful as ever, boy! Don't scare me ever again, okay?"

Jacob laughed. "Sorry, Gwen. I've been kind of busy, so I haven't been able to meet with you for lunch. And you look as young as always." As the woman blushed, Jacob stepped back, and gestured to Adellon. "This is my friend, Adellon Thrace. He's a mage, like myself, but he's from Raven Tail. I thought you would want to work with someone like him, since you said you were looking for someone new." Jacob then turned to Adellon, gesturing to the woman. "Adellon, this is my top photographer and close friend, Gwendelen Quinn."

Gwen moved past Jacob and up to Adellon, looking him over once before standing over him, crossing her arms under her chest and frowning. "Hmmm...you definitely give me the same chills that I felt when Jacob first walked into my office. Which is good. You have good looks, and from what Jacob has told me about you, this is not only your first time, but that you haven't been wanting to do something like this. Now, I will not accept any half-assed performance, okay? I expect you to work with me and do what I say, because if you do, then I can make you a star." Leaning down to look at him, Gwen narrowed her eyes. "Do. I. Make. Myself. Clear?"

Adellon was for a moment caught up in inspecting the environment Jacob had brought him to. The rather plain room made it obvious what it was for, with cameras at the only wall that wasn't painted black, it was clear you would take pictures against it. He presumed the other walls were black to reduce the camera's flash from bounding around and throwing off our pictures. He scratched lightly at his thin beard and pondered if changing the colors of the walls might change the effect by modulating how much flash bounced around the room.

He was shaken from this thought however by the woman Jacob had wanted him to meet. Gwendelen Quinn was an interesting enough name. He was initially looking forward to meeting her, but following her demands and posture he had to bite back a snarky retort. As much as he hated being commanded by just about everyone, he was here at Jacob's behest. Any rudeness he might offer could count against Jacob, and Adellon had promised to act hopitable. He settled for narrowing his eyes back as his only show of defiance. "I do nothing by halves as I'm sure Jacob would be plenty capable of confirming. Your words are clear as crystal."

Jacob nodded at Adellon's words, reaching a hand up to the photgrapher's shoulder. "And I do vouch for him, Gwen. When he does something, he puts in all the effort he can. I've seen it first hand." Looking back to Adellon, he smiled. "Once we are through here, I won't be surprised if he replaces me as your number one client."

Gwen turned to Jacob, gripping his face and pouting. "Now don't you say that, you pretty little thing. You could never be replaced, with your marvelous looks." Patting his cheeks, Gwen let go of him and pointed to Adellon, then over to the white wall. "Give me a moment, then I want you to stand over there. Follow my directions when I give them to you." Turning on her heel, she walked over to one of the cameras and looked through the viewfinder.

Jacob watched her walk away before he turned back to Adellon. "I know she can be a bit much, but as you work with her more, she gets easier to deal with. Trust me, I know from when I started out. And it's good that she likes your looks. She won't be so rough with you." Out of the corner of his eye, Jacob noticed Gwen stand back up and put on a pair of white gloves. "Oh, oh! This part is neat to watch."

Adellon pursed his lips in thought as he considered Jacob's words. While he had admittedly been given a bit if fenale, and at at time or two make, attention Adellon hadn't one stay thought over his physical attractiveness much. However Jacob and the Blue Pegasus recruit attempts probably spoke well towards the truth of his words. He just felt attempts tad weird being treated better based on his appearance. He nodded in ascent to Jacob, "If you say so." He ribbed his eyes towards what the... odd woman was doing.

Gwen lifted her hands up to the white wall, and on her fingertips appeared tiny magic circles, each one a different color. Then, her fingers began to move with blinding speed. As her fingers moved, different colors began to explode on the wall, either seeming like drawn lines or splotches of color. As she worked, a scene began to appear: an old library. Bookshelves lined the outside of the canvas, and in the center of it was a small table with a chair in front of it, and colorful glass-pane windows shooting in beams of light. She continued to add even more detail at almost insane speed, adding cobwebs and dust clouds, even going so far to put a small mouse in the windowsill.

When she was finally done, she looked at her work, giving it a nod of approval and placing the gloves back in her pockets. Jacob pointed to the wall, with it's realistic painting now adorning the wall. "Gwen used to be a painter before photographer, apparently. Even after she quit being a painter, she still practiced everyday until she could make paintings like that. She then found those gloves in a magic shop, which give her the ability to perform pinpoint and precise magic. She picked up the basics of Paint Magic, and uses it to make backgrounds for her photoshoots."

Gwen walked over, wiping a small bead of sweat off of her forehead. "Yes, all of that is true. However, my magic is limited to only white surfaces." Motioning over a young man who was standing over in the corner of the room, he briskly walked over and handed Gwen a book. She then handed it to Adellon. "Take this and stand..." She pointed to a spot on the floor that was painted to look like wood, where a red mark appeared. "...right there." Walking over to the camera, she looked through the viewfinder. "What I want you to do is look like your at home in this library. You're comfy, happy, content. You want to take in the deep smell of the books surrounding you. You can use the book however you want, but you reading it will be a nice addition to some of the photos. I know it isn't the real thing, but it's the best we can do for you. Jacob said you enjoyed books, so I thought this setting would be good to ease you into the scene." She waved him over. "Now, come, come. Whenever you are ready, just give us a thumbs up and we will begin taking pictures. Just do what feels natural."

Adellon's grin was genuine once he saw her finished product. It had been quite the show and it had gone on to explain the white wall question he'd had. "Wow, that was actually rather fun to watch. Well done." He accepted the book, glancing over the cover and first few pages. A romance novel between two mages from rival guilds. Not his usual reading material, as far as anyone else knew at least, but perfectly suitable.

He crossed over to stand in front of the projection. Positioning himself so it looked as if he was standing between the chair and the table. He flipped the book open mid way and began scanning the page intently. He put a finger in his mouth sideways, biting on it in concentration as he has been commented on in his actual library. His eyes actually widened in genuine surprise for a moment as he realized he had perfectly flipped to a more.... risque scene in the book. Generally he read these types of things in private. He thanked the gods his skin was too dark for blushes to be apparent, but kept the shocked look as he assumed it would make for great shots.

Gwen smiled behind the camera, the clicking of the mechanism filling the room as it took multiple pictures in rapid succession. A member of the crew stood behind the two other cameras to the side, taking a few shots as well. Another crew member stood to the side of Adellon, taking pictures on a smaller camera. The clicking filled the room as countless pictures were taken.

Jacob stood behind Gwen, crossing his arms over his chest as he watched Adellon, nodding and grinning. Trying to grab Adellon's attention with a light wave, he mouthed "Good so far" to the mage. Gwen quickly waved her hand, and all the photographers stopped. She stood back up to her full height. "Don't just do one pose. Move as you see fit. I want two or three other possible poses. Whatever makes you comfortable for your first time."

Adellon glanced up from the book as Jacob made an attempt to gain his attention. He gave a half smile at his words of encouragement. When the cameras stopped and Gwen spoke Adellon nodded. "That's easy enough." He closed his eyes for a second and imagined himself in his home library before moving to different poses.

First he moved over towards the wall where a superimposed bookshelf loomed. He stood in a stretched pose as if he were attempting to retrieve a book from a high shelf. He held this pose for half a minute so pictures could be captured. Next he stood looking towards the camera in a a pose with one hand open and extended, mouth open as if he were giving a lecture of one kind or another.

Lastly he though to give a good shot unique to Sorcerers Weekly. After all its a magazine aimed at mages, so he should show off his magic. He flipped the given book back open to about halfway. The. He extended a finger to touch nearly touch its surface and began pulling ink from the page into the air. He swirled around, altering it's shape to appear as close to his mental image of the protagonists. The look of wonder on his face as he used his magic wasn't something he could fake.

Jacob sat quietly, watching Adellon in wonder as he used his magic. A couple other members of the crew began to mumble in wonder as well, interested in the man's magical abilities. Gwen stayed silent, though, taking picture after picture of the mage, just the briefest of smiles on her face. She was enjoying this, as was evident. She hadn't felt so happy to have a new model since Jacob had walked into her office with his innocent face and smile.

Raising one hand, the lanky woman made all cameras silence, the room returning to silence. Standing up straight again, she looked over to Jacob, who only smiled and nodded. Gwen's small grin began to grow as she turned back to look at Adellon. "So far, so amazing. You're a natural at this, Mr. Thrace. Just like Jakey when Jakey first stood in front of the camera. Now..." She motioned to some crew members in the corner, and they grabbed a wooden table leaning against the wall and brought it over in front of the cameras, putting it between them and Adellon. Cracking her knuckles, Gwen looked back through her camera.

"You may begin stripping now."

Adellon returned the ink to the ages, exactly as it originally was via his Eidetic memory. He gave a wide grin when told he was doing well. He hadn't been expecting to enjoy this as much as he has so far. He was curious for a moment as they began moving a table between him and the cameras suddenly. When the strip comment cane out however his mood went from shock to severe annoyance. "Pardon me, I don't believe I was ever informed that stripping would be involved in this shoot!" He tossed a goat Ile glance Jacob's way, sure he had to have known.

Gwen stood back up from her camera, a look of confusion on her face. "What do you mean? Jakey said that you were interested in a nude photoshoot from the beginning! You just needed to get a little comfortable, though." Looking over to the Blue Pegasus mage, Gwen raised an eyebrow. "Care to explain, Jakey?"

Jacob just grinned between the two, shrugging his shoulders. "I thought Adellon would love to do it. Really, it would get his name out there, because who hears about a model doing a nude photoshoot during his first session?" Walking over to Adellon, Jacob placed a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Really, Adellon, what's the harm? I've done a few myself, and all of them have come out rather well. I was rated rather highly by many critics for some of my works. And you definitely have me beat in most ways for looks, in my opinion. Many Blue Pegasus mages will agree, I'm sure." Leaning in, Jacob gave a coy smile. "Will something this trivial really make you scared? They can only print what would be...safe for work. I thought you were a more adventurous man." Turning around, Jacob began to walk back to the cameras. "Though, I guess I am more courageous than you. You'll have to admit that I at least beat you at something, right?"

Adellon grit his teeth to stifle his frustration. In one part the praise was quite delightful to be receiving from so many directions at once, on the other he was not so comfortable with this situation. "I'm sure it'd take your face out there, but not all publicity is good publicity." He ground his teeth as Jacob began poking more directly at him. He knew he was being played, but he'd be damned if he let that smug bastard think he won.

"Fine, if that is how things are I'll do it. However, you best know retribution will be coming Jacob." He began removing his clothes in short smooth movements. Playing the role for their pictures. He was exceptionally happy he was born with his skin tone as he went. It's rather hard to see someone so dark blush. Which when he got down to removing his underwear was rather good, so he could feel his face heating up severely. He used the book to block his unmentionables from view. He gave what he assumed were various desired facial expressions from sultry to superiors before stopping. "How is that? Good enough?"

Jacob just chuckled at Adellon's threat. "Trust me, I knew as soon as I set this up, Adellon." As Adellon began to strip, Gwen got back behind the camera and continued taking pictures. As Adellon began to remove more clothing, the crew members began to get quieter and quieter, and when he finally removed the last of his garments, a feminine voice from the crew said "Oh my."

The cameras clicked and flashed as they took pictures, Gwen grinning like a child as she took dozens of photographs. "Yes, yes! This is fantastic! Keep up the good work, Adellon! This is photography GOLD!" The lights flashed a few more times before Gwen waved her hand, signalling they were finished. Standing back up, she bowed lightly to Adellon. "Mr. Thrace, I must say, I haven't seen such wonderful talent and potential since Jakey. You could make a name for yourself in the world if you so wish. We will get all of these pictures developed and then, if you would like, we can bring you back in at some point to look over them and decide what we should make public and what we can send to those who may want the...private shots, yes?" Gwen then turned to Jacob. "Jakey, would you like to assist us with that?"

Jacob looked up from the palm of his hand, which was in front of his eyes. He turned to Gwen and shrugged. "I doubt Adellon would enjoy my company there, after what happened here today. Frankly, I'm near sure that I'll have to try and escape his clutches so he doesn't strangle the life out of me. I've been lucky so far he hasn't drowned me in ink, and I have things I would like to do while I still have my youth." Turning to Adellon, Jacob smiled and bowed. "I'll leave this all up to you, though, Adellon. So, what are your thoughts about my world?"

Gwen nodded vigorously, looking to Adellon. "Yes, yes, do you like it? Shall I expect you at some other point in the future for another photoshoot, one probably much milder than this?"

Adellon immediately began redressingwhen told they were done. He begrudgingly listened to another "no one since Jakey" comment as his praises were sung about his great attractiveness or skill in front of the camera or some such. "I'm quite sure you can discern which shots are and are not best for your magazine. However if you absolutely need my input I will return."

At Jacob's questioning Adellongave him a look that could melt steel and could turn coal to diamond. "I found it a unique enough experience. However it is not for me. I'm a man of knowledge and of power. Reading or combat, that is where I belong. As for a return shoot. Maybe far in the future, perhaps. Thank you for your time, Gwen. It has been.... interesting." There was genuine thanks in the first bit, but the last word was full of venom and fire as he looked and the Jacob.

Gwen nodded. "Well, if you ever have a change of mind or heart, do come find me. I'd be happy to talk to you. Especially to learn more about you. You certainly are an intriguing man, Adellon Thrace. If I were any younger, I would try to shoot for you myself." Bowing, she grabbed the camera she had been using off the stand and turned to her crew. "Alright, everyone. Grab the cameras and the props and let's clean this place up for now!" The crew members started to get to work, moving the equipment.

Jacob walked over to Adellon, standing close, yet at a safe enough distance he could escape Adellon's grasp if needed. "Okay, okay. I do apologize for what I did. I should have run it by you beforehand. However, you did well, in my opinion. Gwen was very happy, I could tell." Looking around, Jacob looked back to Adellon, a nervous look on his face. "Would it be any better if I showed you some of the works from my own photoshoots?" He held his hands up defensively. "Just to share some of my more embarassing ones, of course. You can show them off to whoever you want to get back at me." Truth be told, Jacob didn't mean to get Adellon this angry. He thought it would be a clever prank on the man.

Adellon slid his jaw back and forth in thought for a second. He was mad but he supposed no harm had been done for sure yet. He blew out an irritated breath. "Whatever it's fine. For now at least. Should this ever keeps me from gaining a promotion or some form of higher status you're going this one find all your clothes dyed multiple clashing colors. For a start at least. Also I will need help making sure the more impressionable young wizards do not see any copiesof this issue."

He glanced back allot Gwen as she left, curiously pondering her words. Were some women truly afraid to pursue him based on age? He had not seen such reluctance in the..... "adoring" populace Jacob had pawned off on him from time to time. In all honesty he had rarely thought of romance with himself in the equation. Though he couldn't see age being too much a defining factor. It would depend on this one individual. A thought dawned on him, realizing this shoot was likely to give Adellon "admirers" like Jacob.

He grimaced momentarily before half grinning at Jacob. "Shall we go, then?"

Jacob saw that Adellon wasn't too mad, at least, not at the moment. He could live with that. Recomposing himself, he gestured out of the room. "How about a nice lunch? I know a few nice restaurants nearby that are truly wonderful. Money is not a question, as I will be paying. It's the least I could do at the moment to make it up to you." Pulling out his staff, he twirled it in his fingers. "I can get us there as fast as the wind itself, if you would like."

Adellon waswas rather hungry, and Jacob did seem apologetic. He supposed a free meal wouldn't be so bad. "That sounds delightful. Though I feel like walking honestly, odd as that sounds." He brushed an errant strand of hair out of his face. "After you," he said, gesturing towards the exit.

Jacob pointed his staff at the ground, a cloud of mist forming at his feet and lifting him up. "As you wish. I prefer to save my energy, but I will float alongside you." Opening the door, Adellon walked through first, Jacob following him and shutting the door behind him with a gentle click.

Fandom Brief Histories

Fairy Tail - Eclipse of Fates

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