[center][color=E0115F][h3]Zander Louvier – Crocus Streets[/h3][/color][/center]

Zander crossed his arms, turning his gaze from the departing Ludo to an arriving Magni.  Evidently, even after hearing foreboding words about the Mystic Beasts, Frenzy Plant's newest anti-mage wanted in on the operation.  After some mental deliberation, the Ruby Knight decided that some time patrolling the streets would be safer with a partner.

[color=E0115F]”Not hunting, not yet.  More like a spotting trip.  We need to learn as much about the Beasts in Crocus if possible.  From what I've gathered, they're extremely powerful beings.  Some have more mundane powers, like elemental control.  Others have more dire abilities, ones that influence time and space, for instance.  The strongest, if the tall tales can be believed, can alter reality.  Right now, we just want to find out who they are, what they look like, and what they can do if possible.  Forgive me for assuming, but I expect you've got nothing, ah...social that might prevent you patrolling the streets with me this evening?”[/color]

[center][i][h3]X: Wheel of Fortune[/h3][/i]
[@Burthstone][/center]

Stacy proved to be a good listener as Mark related the history of his guild.  In fact, she practically hinged upon every word.  Even for one uninitiated in the realms of reading people, it was obvious that she adored history, stories, or simply knowledge.  The hatted woman raised her eyebrows when Mark mentioned exactly how old his guild was, and how the events surrounding the prestigious Fairy Tail had assisted Iron Enigma's fall to darkness.  It was all very fascinating.  In particular, she found a great deal of intrigue in the way Mark said many of the guild members treated one another like family.  When he finished, she remained quiet for a few moments, thinking.  Her usual slight smile had buried itself beneath her contemplation.

A minute later, she sighed.  “Sometimes I wish my brothers and sisters acted like a family.  They're a bunch of selfish lunatics, always stuck on themselves and on what they can do.  I shouldn't really be talking though, I'm as bad as any of them.”  She refocused on Mark, shrugging.  “I guess you can't pick your family, but you can pick your friends, right?”  There didn't seem to be much enthusiasm in her to continue discussing her siblings.  Sipping the last of her drink, Stacy stood up, wobbling slightly from the sudden rise.  “It's about time I rejoined them, I think.  Work to do, and all that.  This was fun, though.  I hope we'll meet again.”  As she winked, one of the eyes in her 'hat' winked also, discreetly but still visible to a keen observer.

[center][i][h3]IX: the Hermit[/h3][/i][/center]

With a few flaps of his wings, Ludo left the soldiers of Frenzy Plant behind.  He trusted them, more or less, to do the smart thing and keep a low profile while scoping out the Mystic Beasts.  No matter their past lives, Beasts were no longer human, and could seldom be found either looking out for anyone but themselves, or working some sort of angle.  The weakest of them, like Salvoy and Ludo himself, were the most virtuous ones.  As the Hermit honed in on the source of noise he identified as the froglike croaking of the Jester, he wondered exactly how this encounter was to unfold.

No member of his kind could truly die by the hand of another, Ludo knew as he touched down in a large, sprawling playground, but that did not make it any easier.  Keeping a constant knowledge of the current slew of Beasts was a difficult phenomenon, for the unintelligent ones were always being weeded out and replaced by some human or another.  Ludo had no knowledge of the Jester's current holder save that Arcana's constants.  Whomever bore the Jester wore the vestige of a frog, and was unpredictable, willing to do anything for amusement.  Ludo planted his spear in the ground, and raised his gruff voice into a shout.  "Jester!  I know you're here.  What are you playing at?"

As soon as Ludo finished his sentence, another laughing croak came from what seemed like every direction at once. The ability to stay invisible for long periods of time always made the Jester quite hard to catch or even find in the first place. However, the Hermit's excellent hearing was always something that hindered his ability to stay hidden so well, but it was also quite easy to exploit such a power. Jack smiled a great smile, messing with the Hermit was going to be fun.

Jack soon uncloaked from his hiding position, he was hanging upside down on some monkey bars with a stupid smile on his face. "Playing? Why, I'm playing with you of course!" The Jester chuckled at his little joke before continuing, "You Major Arcana are so easy to predict, you know that right? However, you did surprise me when you came here. Never expected the mighty loner to ever show his adorable little face to the public." Jack soon squished his cheeks together after the remark and his smile started to grow even larger. "Enough about you though, or me? I don't know. I had simply came to this place to see if I can find something... fun." The Jester soon dropped from his position on the monkey bars and landed neatly upon the ground, his smile soon starting to become unverving. "I would like to say one thing before I start," Two daggers soon appearing out of nowhere into the Jester's hands, "Two's a company."

"Three's a crowd." Other Jack laughed from behind Ludo.

Other Jack's bastard sword was already raised high into the air if Ludo looked back, and right as Jack started to make a mad dash towards Ludo, the sword was already making the momentum to dig deep into the Hermit's shoulder.

Ludo grimaced.  There would be no information coming out of this loose cannon.  As the Jester began to attack, Ludo steeled himself, not at all interested in testing Jack's combat skill.  Abandoning his spear, the old owl jumped into the air, barely avoiding losing blood to the double's flashing blade.  A few severed tips of feathers drifted away in the slight breeze as Ludo performed a clumsy flip.  While no display of acrobatic flip, it drew the real Jack's gaze.  For a moment, the two Mystic Beasts locked eyes, and the Hermit vanished.

There was absolutely no sign of him, whichever way either Jack might have looked.  After a couple of seconds, however, there was a slight noise--not from the real world, but from within Jack's own mind.  Then, with no warning whatsoever, Ludo reappeared inches from Jack's face and leaned in for a brutal and hard-to-dodge headbutt.

Other Jack laughed even harder has his blade barely missed his target and as the feathers fell, Other Jack started to snatch all of the feathers from the air. The Jester chuckled at his clone, even his double couldn't really be trusted to really any kind of responsibility, but it merely just made things even more fun.

Jack started to slow down as the frog couldn't exactly fly, but his sights were still locked upon Ludo. However, that goal of his soon vanished just like the Hermit before him. "When could he do that again?" Jack questioned rubbing his chin. However, before the Jester could even react to the sound inside of his head, Ludo appeared right before him with a nasty surprise just for the frog. The Jester suffered the brutal blow, but Jack merely took only one step back from the headbutt. His face had started to bleed from the trauma, but the same stupid smile was still there. "I've been hit way harder than that before, but A+ for form," Jack started to move his hands to congratulate Ludo for his first strike, however, his hands suddenly blurred in speed as inside his sleeve was his secret weapon. "Surprise sand attack!" screamed out Jack as he threw a handful of sand towards Ludo's eyes.

"Gyagh!"  Ludo staggered back, scratching at his eyes.  He hopped backward out of Jack's immediate range, cursing this Jester's bag of tricks.

Other Jack on the other hand had somehow managed to stick all the feathers onto his head for the fun of it, but his queue was heard once again. The double squatted down before leaping into the air and his body ready to slam straight into Ludo. 

Though Ludo could hear the fake Jack moving, the irritating grains lingering in his peepers kept him from providing an effective response.  He threw a blind swipe at the double but did not land it.  The following slam, however, helped jar the last few particles out as it bowled the Hermit over.  Breathing deeply, Ludo sprang at the double, low to the ground, and delivered an aerial hook punch right to the side of the double's head.  Next stop was his spear, which he plucked from the ground with a talon and grasped in his hands.  A few beats of his wings lofted him into the air, and he said to Jack, "I don't know what conspiracy is going on here, but I intend to find out.  If you stick your neck out, Jester, you're going to get it chopped off.  Too many strong mages around.  Keep it quiet like the rest."  If there was any chance of convincing Jack to not cause chaos, it lay in convincing him that any goofing around would bring his downfall.  Heck, it might even be true.  One thing was for sure: Ludo on his own wouldn't be able to stand up against the Beast's tricks.

He flapped his wings and fled, encumbered by the encounter with no answers, only new questions.  If he was to find anything of substance, he'd need to find a more stable Beast.

Jack watched as Ludo flew away from the fight, he did consider the advice that the Hermit bestowed upon him and started to wipe away the blood from his face. Other Jack had been dazed from the punch that Ludo had given him, but he started to give up as the world around him started to stop spinning. The double and Jack soon looked at eachother with slight frowns, but it soon turned back into smiles. "You touched him right? How soft did he feel?" Jack questioned. 

"Oh, he felt like a pillow. I wish we could have just asked for the feathers though," The double said to the original. 

"What!? Then it wouldn't be fun gathering souvenirs from the Major Arcana! You know, I feel like you aren't even my clone sometimes," Jack said before throwing a knife straight into his double's head making him poof out of existence, "I'll make sure to make you better next time I call on you.”

[center][h3][color=d8bfd8]Nero the Genie – A Nearly-Empty Stadium[/color][/h3]
[@Invisible Man][/center]

Nero had been on the receiving end of a fair few odd noises, but the one uttered now by Eve took the cake.  It was such a blend of silliness and cuteness that he couldn't help but break out laughing as well.  He noticed the bag at almost the same time as his companion, but wasn't quite as speedy.  When Eve put on a quizzical face, holding up the letters and heart inscribed on the bag, he quickly put two and two together.  [color=d8bfd8]”Aww, Ayame must have come along and seen us busy, and left this behind to give us our space.  She's a sweet kid, and a strong one too, able to stand the presence of two dark mages and even -gasp!- think of them as friends.  What do you say we find her and make sure she doesn't feel left out?”[/color]

Shortly thereafter, once the bag had been opened and the crepes shared, even as the stadium emptied of people, Nero and Eve left to find their young friend.