[center][h1]Aiden Cross[/h1][/center]

Pain. Emptiness. The crushing feeling of self doubt. These were the emotions that Aiden awoke to face the day after the technical success of the Ogre Cave mission. It went entirely awry the moment it started, but then [i]she[/i] had to show up. The wounds on his body pulsates in remberance of his fight with the last person he ever wanted to see again. That was also the last thing about yesterday's mission that he could remember about the latter half of the mission. The woman had burst in, shadows dancing around her as she facilitated the hooded man's escape, killed the boy on the altar, and managed to hold off all four of them up to the pint until she caused a cave-in, separating him and he from the rest of the group. 

There they fought some more, but even Aiden had to admit that he was greatly outmatched by his foe, who barely even flinched as she took his attacks almost as of they were nothing if he didn't build up their power, and even then it didn't seem to do much. Then he'd heard her laugh, saw the eyes underneath her hood, those familiar mocking eyes, and the next thing he knew, the others were pulling him out of the cave, drained of magic and covered in cuts and bruises. He couldn't remember anything before that moment, it was all just a blur to him, but he didn't need to to know what happened.

With a hiss of pain, he got out of his bed, his wounds seeming to have been tended to by one of the mandatory guild healers, reaching over to the fridge next to his bed to pull out a bag of ice that he kept nearby to snack on in the night. After a few handfuls, he felt good enough that he could probably due dime like work for the day. While he should've stayed inside and rested, he knew he needed to take his mind of the other day somehow, and a mission seemed the best way to do that. But not before taking a certain. . . pre-caution. Reaching underneath his bed, he pulled out an old bag that held a few old clothes, a bag of broken scale pieces he'd kept to remind him of his late adoptive father, Chronos, and a strange black choker that held a strange digit on the front of it, an X made from crossed magic staves with a double helix formation forming around them in a flowing pattern. Just the sight of it filled him with rage, but he had to swallow it down for now, lest he have a repeat of yesterday.

 Reaching in, he picked up the small collar and fastened it around his neck securely, then fed a small amount of magical energy into it, so as to intimate the start up sequence for the device inside. The sigil glowed for a second before dying down, with Aiden being struck by an intense feeling of weakness and agonizing pain. He couldn't say a thing, writhing weakly on the ground in silence as the choker went to work. After a while, he was able to stand up again, wiping of the thick layer of sweat that had formed upon his face as the feeling passed. 

"I didn't think I'd have to use this thing again, but I'm glad I kept it. One man's trash is another man's treasure, right?" Auden said with a dry chuckle as he got himself dressed in his usual garb, tying his air up in it's long ponytail, though he didn't take to straightening out any loose hairs today, he felt to tired to care about how he looked this. . . afternoon? [i]Shit, All the good jobs are usually taken around this time. Probably for the best, but still. . .[/i] Aiden gave a sigh as he walked out the door to his room, walking down the hallway to the stairs, flinching slightly at every other step as he walked over to the board. Once there, he saw that Kuroko was also there, and seemed to have chosen a job as well.

Deciding to give it a once over, Aiden decided that this would be an easy enough mission to take, assuming that the Pencil Wizard would have him. "Would you like any help on this mission of yours, Kuroko? I know I'm not at a hundred percent, but this job sounds simple enough that you and me could handle it with marginal difficulty. It'd be even easier if anyone else joins in, but that'd just be overkill, though that might be just what these assholes need." Aiden face soured as he turned his thoughts to the town that was currently being occupied by a bunch of thugs. "It's people like this that put shame to all mages, so let's show him what the Wizards of Fiore do to losers thinking they can take advantage if defenseless villagers, yeah, Pencil Wizard?"

[@Lmpkio]

[center][h1]Revan[/h1][/center]

"What Matt said and all that, besides, you're probably the only one who could kill him before he runs off without destroying half the town while you do it." Revan said with a yawn, the effects of the medicine starting to take effect. As he saw her babying Alice's brat, he couldn't help but chuckle at the poor kid's fate. "It's a wonder you and Stone-faced Ajax have yet to have a kid of your own by now. You'd be a good enough parent, I suppose. . . better than me anyway." Revan said the last part under his breath, an air of melancholy hanging over him as he decides to take a seat at one of the benches in the main hall, barely acknowledging Matt's approach with more than a grunt to show he was listening. As he spoke, however, Revan forced himself into a more active state, if only slightly.

"Little shit reminds me too much of myself at a young age, except he seems to have a shred of his humanity about him if he's truly got the hots for that Taka girl. And I know what you mean, something about his presence gets my demonic blood excited, and experience has told me that's never good. Not much we can do now, what sucks about following the laws, but I say we keep an eye in the girl. Whatever the reason for his interest in her, she's are best way of keeping an eye on him. So we'll watch him, maybe try to turn him down a better path if we can, and kill him without mercy if we can't."

Revan suddenly broke out into a fit of chuckles as he thought about what he just said, and the person he said it about. "Wow, raiding a brat of my own has made me soft, hasn't it? Before that blasted war, I would've killed him the second he started that one attack, city be damned. Now. . . now I want to actually help the shut be a better person. Heh, Xavier would be shocked." Revan's chuckles slowly died down as the air of melancholy fell over him even heavier than before. He let out a defeated sigh as he laid his head on the table, a single tear making it's way from the corner of his eye as he let himself drift into a drug-induced sleep, thinking back to happier days where he'd finally had something he could be proud of. [i]I really have gotten soft, haven't I[/i]

[@j8cob]