[center][b][color=c2b280]Fleo Plector[/color][/b][/center]

Memories of the big city, the sheer vitality of its streets and their fast pace, as well as of the awe-inspiring spectacles Crocus' colosseum played host to, slipped away rather quickly.  To Fleo, who'd never been able to boast of an exceptional long-term memory, this was nothing new, but this time the dusty woman felt that the fade was tragic.  Every day the Grand Magic Games went on, new incredible feats of magic and martial skill seared themselves into her mind, convincing her that she'd never be able to forget them, but all too readily they seeped through the cracks between her fingers, like water.  Determined not to pay all the wizard and warriors a disservice by forgetting them, Fleo decided to buy a journal to record what she'd seen.  The little book was a somber affair, the black-bound, light brown diary of an adult—no child's plaything.  When she went to write in her serious little book, however, Fleo found that most of what she'd experienced had already been washed away in the routine of daily life in Magnolia.  She had to make ends meet, after all.  

After writing what she could, Fleo ended up turning her eyes forward, and jotting down notes about each job she went on as a rank-and-file member of Phoenix Wing.  Her guild's eye-catching performance in the Games had attracted quite a few new members, and in place of the guild's stuffier, more reclusive higher-ups, Fleo went on jobs with them quite often.  No task lasted more than a day, give or take, so she ended up completing a fair few small-time requests alongside the new members, and each had a place in her journal.

[i]Wednesday – went on a job with Clive and Merril again.  After getting to know them, they really are the classic comic duo.  One's comically serious, the other just plain goofy.  It might be kind of mean to say so, but they've even got the shapes down: one big and tall, the other thin and short.  I'm writing this because the job was pretty boring.  Just rooting around through a giant field to find rabbit holes and flush them out.  The farmer's little daughter was so cute—the rabbits apparently scared her real bad two days ago, and she shook her little fist in triumph when she heard they'd been driven off.

Friday – went with the bunch to check out a supposed goblin invasion not far from town.  To our surprise, we found them in the middle of a huge dance in the forest, and I don't know who was more surprised!  Turns out they're peaceful, having fled south from an awakening of rock trolls.  At least, that's what it sounded like.  Their chief suggested asking us to go to Magnolia's mayor to make sure everyone knows the goblins are peaceful, and open to trading the stuff they hunt.  Everyone was so sore from all the walking back and forth that I had to make sure to pretend I was too.  Clive begged me to let him try out my 'dusty carpet', and after a lot of nagging I finally let him.  He crashed into a tree in seconds, but he didn't seem bothered.  Just had that big, silly grin on his face.  What a character.

Monday – fisherman and wife came by into the guild, all worked up about some kind of monster emerging from the lake near town.  Of course, Evie accepted with an instant and sped off, so the rest of us had to follow, of course.  Have I mentioned Evie before?  She says she's 25 years old, but she looks like she's 15, and she's got an obsession with scary monsters.  The super-reckless thrillseeker type.  Last week, I saw her actually let herself get hit over and over by these raptor things, healing herself each time.  I asked why she'd do something like that, and she said she wanted to learn all about their abilities.  Crazy!  Anyway, we found the monster.  It was some kind of lizard, pretty big, and we found out it excretes all bodily waste as oil from its skin after Clive tried to light it up with Nova.  All the oil from the fish it had eaten, sitting in the lake, caught fire, and in seconds the water was ablaze.  It was like the bonfires back home but a million times bigger and hotter.  Merril was trying to act all calm and composed until the lizard splashed some on his head, and he ran around with his hair burning for almost a minute.  When we put it out, all the hair above his ear had been charred black.  I actually ended up killing the lizard with a Dust Bomb inside its mouth.  Made me feel bad, but it was a nuisance, and it did try to roast us.

Sunday – tried a job by myself.  Basically, someone just needed some help in their magic shop for the day, and wanted a wizard who'd understand the value of the objects and not mess around.  There was a lot of cool-looking stuff in there, especially this one statuette of some awful worm, but it ended up being a pretty boring day.  I did my best to be fun and nice with the people who came in, and a couple even tipped me!  At the end of the day, tips plus wages made for more money than the entire goblin job.  If being a wizard doesn't pan out, I should go into business.  Bet Mom's eyes would bug out to hear that[/i]

The days went by at a steady clip.  Nothing out of the ordinary cropped up, but the sheer variety of tasks posed to the guild meant that everyday work never got monotonous.  Each morning, her usual twenty-minute, high-speed run around the block would end with breakfast and then down to the postings board to find out the day's main event.  In the evenings, after finishing a job, Fleo would take a quick bath before heading out into Magnolia, sometimes with friends, sometimes just to explore.  Hers became a more common and recognized face in the town compared to her more shut-in existence prior to the Games.  Fleo guessed she was just coming into her own.  Other little things seemed to confirm it; for instance, she found one day through experimentation that she could mold her dusty arms into extremely life-like shapes, and could finally leave her trademark bandages behind.  One rainy day, she found a fashion that she felt truly suited here, and thereafter could often be see sporting a [url=http://orig06.deviantart.net/91a6/f/2016/026/8/c/study_by_tahra-d9pf9vr.jpg]distnguishing appearance[/url].  In her room, her stash of savings continued to grow, and her eyes gleamed with pride every time she uncovered it.  Sure, a few earthquakes occurred here and there, but Fleo thought nothing of it.  Things went well, even as the earth grew colder.

[center][b][color=007FFF]Indigo Afina – Frenzy Fort[/color][/b]
[@t2wave][/center]

When the great doors of the Frenzy Fort swung open, the bitter winter air surged in like an invading force.  Everybody on the citadel's first floor felt a lance of the season's chill and shivered to some degree before carrying on in their activities.  Only Indigo, the woman who maintained the front desk in the short defensive hallway leading to the main floor, was lambasted by the elements, and accordingly the beauteous sorcerer had bundled herself up.  The austere dark blue of her garb, lined with gray fur and coupled with a sort of cylindrical fur hat on her golden head, gave her a serious air, but frantically fumbling around for the message lacrima sent rolling by the freezing gust was anything but dignified.

After a moment, Indigo secured the object, then set it aside as she surveyed the newcomer.  For a moment her glance was sharp, seeking to discern in the most sense of the word, but a smile softened that stern expression.  [color=007FFF]”Well, hello!  Actually, I'm just the person to talk to.  Please, come in, shut the door.  You must be freezing in that kimono.  Pardon me for asking, but are you Sevenese?  Hyun might be interested to hear about the arrival of a countryman.”[/color]  The Librarian did not give much of a chance for Cyra to get a word in edgewise.  [color=007FFF]”Ah, don't tell me!  You're wanting to sign up for the guild, aren't you?  That unique blend of nervousness and determination...I'm sure of it!  But a young girl seeking to march off to war at such a tender age.  What reason could you possibly have to join what amounts to an army?”[/color]  Inquisitiveness filled her features.

[center][b][color=d8bfd8]Nero LeMure[/color][/b][/center]

[i]Wump, wump, wump.[/i]

One after another, the feet of three travelers packed down the light, fresh snow.  As always, Nero stood at the head, and his dear friends flanked him on either side.  One, tiny and slender, walked with a skip in her step, and the other, a lady who approached four hundred pounds in weight, sallied forth at an impressive rate.  Behind all walked a woman who embodied elegance, even in warm winter wear.  The independent guild Miracle Eye had not gained much in terms of population in two months, but in terms of experience, it had become rich indeed.  Still possessing the gift of magic but at odds with their old standbys, Eve and Ayame took the suggestion of a sage the group encountered out of happenstance to try their hands at new sorceries.  Meanwhile Malice, the newest to Miracle Eye, got to know the three oddballs with whom she'd cast her lot.  Since then, everybody had grown.

Ayame, fascinated by Nero's own abilities, opted to dabble in his own unique school of transfiguration and transmutation.  She quickly grasped the most basic versions of his various spells, and the ability to shape the world around her excited Ayame to no end.  Before long, she developed twists and arts of her own, most notably a potent color-changing hex that Nero never had the knack for.  Every day was a new adventure to find out what she could do next, and how she could leave her unique mark on the world.  A trail of miscolored objects and patches of ground marked the trio's journey.

After the initial strangeness of a new member of the guild wore off, Nero made the wise decision to better explain to his new ally the exact nature of the power he'd bestowed upon her not so long ago by implanting a shard of a formless monstrosity within her.  Though he lacked a mirror, he made sure to show Malice the first chance he got the change to her reflection in a pond's surface when she got carried away.  Instead of horror, however, Nero met the unintended side effect with fascination--the imaginative idea of a noble beauty hiding a monster underneath seized him.  All the same, he wouldn't have hesitated to remove the manifested locus of magic if asked.  Eve did not seem to care one way or another, but Ayam remained spooked of Malice for some time, and seldom bothered her.

Putting her necromancy far behind her where it belonged, the hefty former member of Dragon Fang discovered an affinity for divination.  Her dark eyes, once sunken in resignation, depression, and loss, became privy to the future and to hidden knowledge.  Psychometry became her bread and butter; over the course of weeks, she became able to tell all about a something, and even its recent history, by touch.  In doing so, she also grew closer to Nero, who carried a lot of himself in the things he carried with him.  At first, Eve was shocked to discover portions of her friend's history and character he'd never shared, but that trepidation gave way to greater understanding and finally, to Nero's utmost relief and joy, closeness.  For the first time, even since she'd begun to trust him and travel with him, someone had truly been able to understand him.  In an instant she'd thrown upon the closet and bared its skeletons to the world—loneliness, callousness, abandonment, a false face of joy, and vindictiveness, but also dedication, honest, and a sincerely well-meaning, kind heart.

Not long after, Nero suggested a new trip, one that he hadn't made in almost a year: visiting his parents.  His companions were surprised to hear that not only were his mother and father alive and well, but also members of a dark guild called Phlegethon, but their curiosities were piqued and they trusted Nero's leadership.  Today, scrunching through the snow, they approached the river village where Phlegethon's headquarters were said to reside.  Before them lay a small stone bridge with a soft arc to it, its snow-covered surface marred by the evident passage of a wagon.  Nero's breath turned to steam in the air as he exhaled.  [color=d8bfd8]"Here we are.  'Verboorg' is this place's name.  It used to be a big city, but legend tells that a plague reduced it to a festering ruin.  Nowadays the only plague here is Phlegethon, which is more than enough if you ask me!  Neheheh.  Shall we?"[/color]