There was a tranquil stillness to the ocean as the gentle waves tugged at the sandy shore, as if softly blanketing the land. The waters foam felt great against Yukiko's bare feet, and the tingling sensation made her giggle. Her wings fluttered in delight, spreading to their full wingspan. Some would say stretching out her wings was comparable to anyone else stretching out their arms, but Yukiko felt that this was an unfair comparison. Her wings spent most of their time tucked behind her, neatly folded away for the convenience of others. Spreading her wings was at least ten times more relieving to her than someone just simply stretching out there arms. Thankfully, she had both wings and arms. She could do both. Double the relief. It was no wonder people stared at her so much; jealousy was truly an ugly thing. The sunlight glistened upon the water like a thousand sparkling diamonds. The clear blue water blended perfectly with the azure sky along the horizon. Off in the distance, she saw something break the surface of the water before quickly collapsing back into the ocean. More and more of these small figures leapt out of the water, continuing forward towards Yukiko as if to greet her. Smiling, she flapped her wings as a gust of sea breeze gently wrapped itself around her, pushing her up into the sky effortlessly before she dived forward, arms outstretched, towards the flying fish that danced in the distance. She soared, her face only inches away from the water's surface. She smiled at her reflection, which was suddenly disrupted by a fish jumping up from the water; his fins gently touched the tip of Yukiko's nose. Curving herself upwards, she flew upwards into the sky before looking back down. The fish below her circled where she once was, jumping up and down. The ocean was so calm and peaceful, why would anyone ever want to live on land? The very thought of land only brought fear to her. She shuddered as she tried to remember the face of the one who pursued her. If only she could recount their appearance, she would feel somewhat safer. For all she knew, any stranger on the street could be the monster looking for her. She was interrupted by the crashing sound of thunder, reminding her what she was supposed to be doing here. She quickly flew down to where Haust was. She was supposed to help look for the merpeople to help deal with them, but she was distracted by the ocean. She felt kinda bad, especially since Haust had cleaned up the situation effortlessly. She'd make sure he received her share of the reward for doing everything. There would be other missions afterall. She came to a stop near Haust, landing back on her feet delicately. "Um, my apologies. I didn't really do anything to help out." Her wings folded behind her, and the two continued back on the road to Magnolia. Yukiko wasn't too pleased being put with Haust. Not that she had anything against him, it just seemed odd putting the new members on a mission together. "We should start heading back to Magnolia." [CENTER]---------------------------------------[/CENTER] Zy was more than curious as soon as a familliar voice echoed through the Guild Hall, silencing everyone as the elderly woman walked in with her guards. There was a friendly exchange between her and the master, and as quick as she arrived, she left with a group of wizards to go and investigate Haven. Zy could swear he knew the woman, although not well. She seemed like a very powerful person, so he'd be certain he'd remember her if they had met. Alicia, noticing his confusion, spoke up from behind the counter. "Meredith came and visited, requesting our wizards for a job in her town years back. You were only a young boy then." Alicia scratched away at her papers, pushing her glasses back up her nose while Zy turned back around to stare at what she was writing. She was filling out an official request form for the Haven Mission that had just started, as well as preparing an apology letter to the council for when they inevitebly found out that Pollux had gone against their wishes. Alicia speaking up proved to be quite helpful, reminding Zy of a time long ago when he had felt this same, overpowering presence as a young child. Although back then he felt that from every Fairy Tail wizard, being as young as he was, so he didn't think he'd be able to distinguish between them. Yet Meredith's presence was frighteningly familliar. Zy did not remember her being especially pleasant. As the group departed, Pollux spoke up to a few of the remaining guild members. "The issue in Haven is being dealt with, however there are other matters that must be attended to." Pollux walked over to Zy and Mary, sitting next to the young man. He watched over the council as Alicia wrote away on her paper. "As much as I like to preach that we shouldn't let the ramblings of the council get in our way, recently they have become even more influential upon Fiore and I fear that even the slightest step in the wrong direction will have our beloved guild disbanded." Zy turned around on his chair as the master spoke, his arms folded across his chest. Pollux ran his hand through his long, wirey beard, a sign that everyone knew meant he was thinking. Something was troubling the master, but before they could ask he spoke to the group once more. "I'd like the rest of you to go to Blue Pegasus and help them recover a lost artifact of incredible power. It was stolen from them this morning and their Guild Master has asked for our assistance. Please get there post haste, this is an excellent opportunity to strengthen the bonds between our two guilds." With the Master's final word, he dismissed the group. Zy was about to start heading off when Mary grabbed him by the ear and pulled him to the side, demanding an explanation. "Why you gotta get on my case, Mary? I'm just not feeling too cheery today, is all." Zy could tell from the expression on her face that this answer was not good enough, and he knew he wasn't going anywhere until she had a proper response. "I didn't mean to upset that girl before. Everything else was having fun with their magic so I just wanted to join in." Zy's lack of understanding social cues and responses was no secret, especially not to Mary. It was embarrassing having to be told right from wrong, as if he was a little kid, but he supposed it was better than messing up all his attempts to be social with others. [CENTER]--------------------------------[/CENTER] The forest was eerily still and quiet, despite being broad daylight. A stream could be heard running in the distance, and the young lady that sat on a fallen tree listened to it's calming rhythm. She wore a bright yellow sundress with a sunflower tied to her ponytail. Her long, scarlet hair reached down past her hips and coiled on the ground below her. In her delicate hands she held a most mysterious item. A tome of dark magics was held in her hands. Not something you'd expect such a beautiful young lady to be walking around with, but in truth if one were to look closely at her porcelain face; there would be no mistake that this woman was more sinister than she would seem. Dark wisps of power floated gently from her lips and eyes, floating upwards into the sky. Her eyes were pure white; no iris or pupil to be seen. When she spoke, she spoke in a voice that was not her own. "The lady of darkness is not coming, I see," her voice came out as a sharp screech, no doubt what had caused all the animals to flee the forest. "How disappointing. Master will surely punish us for this." The woman watched through the trees, staring at the Blue Pegasus guild in the distance. She knew that they were in a panic. This dark tome held power beyond compare, and it would surely aid them in achieving their masters goals. However, this was not what they wanted. She would definetiely be in trouble for not bringing Acacia with her.