[IC] FT | The Sky And The Earth

[Sho Minazuki]

Vega Ashworth | Festival

"Can it four-eyes, this IS my idea of relaxing, and didn't I just tell you to sit back? No need to get so heated", he yelled back at Odinn. His attack being countered wasn't unexpected, he managed to easily avoid his magic being countered, but his kick's strength not so much. Still it wasn't much to him. The portals all opening up, it seems this guy was going to get serious. He hadn't fought this guy before, so he had no idea what he was about to do, as she said, he definitely wasn't going to like it... Then again he didn't like any of these people.

"... You know what", he put his scythe away again, although this time he pocketed his knives... Then stood up, he breathed out, then in a gigantic explosion of his magic all around him, it didn't hit anything except maybe destroy Odinn's portals that were directly above him or a shockwave, but otherwise it didn't do much else,

"HRGH!", he with an almighty stomp completely cratered the ground below him using an ultra-dense concentration of his magic. His hands in his pockets, he kicked one of the stones created from the bit of debris before turning around towards the carnival exit, fiddling with one of his knives like he does sometimes,

"You guys are boring anyway, I'm outta here", this wasn't a good day for him at all... All that was on his mind now, was how he was going to handle that Odinn guy... Those portals, his magic seemed to prevent them from working on him like usual, but he couldn't exactly fight in his Death God's Veil. Gritting his teeth he continued to walk away from the area.

[Inertia]

Interacting with:
Ky @Raijinslayer
Odinn @j8cob
Illedrith @Lord SawSaw2
and others I may have missed <.<

---

Rei, despite his cool and calm facade, he was actually biting himself for not being able to intervene or even help in the fight because of the nature of his powers. It was a blessing and a curse at the same time. One of the reasons that he preferred to go on missions independently is because of his magic, basically, it is extremely difficult, or rather control his powers when he has allies attacking the enemy, especially Vega and Illedrith who basically come blow for blow instead of the usual far ranged casting most mages do.

So he instead, reluctantly, opted to stay out of the fight, and didn't even try to do anything physically as it would get in the way. He just stood there watching the fight unfold, he would actually intervene if it was needed, but Odinn, Illedrith and Ky seemed to have the situation handled. It was also an interesting experience to watch the amalgamations of powers clashing. Odinn was getting more progressively angry, much angry than Rei had ever seen, you can feel the irritation in his voice.

"You guys are boring anyway, I'm outta here"

The situation soon defused all of the sudden, with Ashworth waking away from the fight. Rei's demeanor wasn't for the better. He promptly turned to the rather displeased wizards who were now seemingly relaxing with their powers,

"I'll have a talk with the guildmaster about Vega's actions." he whispered outloud, again lightly bowing his head in an almost apologetic manner "I'll also apologize for the action of my guild member once more."

[Rune_Alchemist]

~Ceri~

It didn't take the pair all that long to find Mis among the crowd of people. Following the large amount of magic power being thrown around, wasn't exactly hard for Ceri. It was easy enough to pick out Mis among them, and a few others from the guild as well. Whatever was happening, it felt like it was bad. Ceri could only assume they had gotten involved in a fight with Golem's Hand, and while she hated fighting in all it's forms, and was generally not into it...she didn't want to see Mis get hurt. If anything, she could always help them run. Fleeing was kind of her specialty, after all.

She slowed her pace as the two of them finally managed to get close enough to see what was happening. It was definitely an altercation with the people from Golem's hand. Vega Ashworth. Big surprise there, but at least from the looks of things it had only been a small conflict and it was already over with. This was obviously a relief to Ceri, she audibly sighed in relief as she walked up too Illedrith, still holding onto the shaved ice she had previously been eating.

She let go of Klisa and walked over to Mis, still holding onto that shaved ice.

"U-uhm...M-mis." Her voice was understandably quiet as she gave Mis a gentle tug on her arm to make sure she got her attention. She didn't want to risk Vega hearing her, though he doubted he'd do anything else as long as Illedrith was here but she didn't want to take any chances in dealing with the guy. If she was capable of such a thing as hate, he'd definitely be the one it'd be directed towards.

"A-are you alright?" She looked fine, from what the timid mage could see, but she was still worried.

@Lord Sawsaw2
@KiltmanBagz

[Remram]

@Zeroth

For a brief moment Hans was stunned by Travis' barrage of puns. The takeover mage had tried to turn the tables on him and on any other person this would've probably stunned them. However, Hans was not one to be shaken so easily. A wide grin spread along his face and he chuckled maniacally, a chilling chuckle from his surprisingly deep voice that matched how creepy he looked. His snow white eyes locked with his and he stood up, his lanky form unfolded to show how much of a stick he is.

"My my, I have to hand it to you Travis, that wasn't too bad. You must've battered your brain for ideas until it was as fried as your dog." With a long, bony finger he pushed the fried treat away from him. "So you're not as much as a rock head as I thought you were, big deal. Just like your dog, your bark is worse than your bite. I'm nacho if you're just full of bravado or you're simply just pulling cheesy puns right out of your butt. I swear, you must be stoned if you think your puns can get to me. I should bring you back down to earth and show you the real pun master. I'd rib you a new one, but you would have to drink away that memory later, probably something on the rocks. Now forgive me if I punintentionally offend you, but your puns are so barbaric and beastly that I'm surprised that you haven't taken it over yet.

He laid his palms flat against the table and leaned in closer, chuckling in excitement. "Just like those cardboard standees, you're not cutout for puns if that's all you got. You've tried to beat me at my own game with a punt, but you just fell flat on your ass. You simply pale in comparison to me. Too bad Ria isn't here to see this; she could cool your burns.

[Lord Sawsaw2]

Illedrith breathed a deep sigh of relief and resheathed her halberd as Vega walked away from the fight. Most of her mirrors had been consumed by his blast of negative energy, either from blocking for people, or from moving in front of some of the rifts to keep them unscathed. With no further need for them, the mirrors shone brightly as they released their stored power and then shattered into floating motes of light which filled the courtyard briefly. Hearing Rei apologize, she turned to him.

"No need to apologize, this was out of all of our control, it was just good that nobody got hurt and that nothing was damaged. Hopefully your guildmaster will take a formally lodged complaint to heart and do something about it himself in future, rather than leaving it to you."

It was then that she felt a light tug on her sleeve, signalling the return of her favorite soon-to-be-couple. Illedrith smiled at Ceri as she earnestly worried about her big sister.

"No need to fret, I'm fine, though a little tired. It'll take more than a few kicks from an upstart mercenary to pose a threat to me! Enough of that unpleasant business though, how was your foray? Find anything good to eat? I hear there's a decent cafe nearby if you're hungry?" Looking over her shoulder, she addressed the two S-classes: "You're welcome to tag along if you've got nothing better to do. I'd say we all need a good round of drinks after that..."

[Vulkan]

Amaterasu was a little surprised at the male's question that her flame on her hand stopped. Now that she thought about it though, she has never been taken for a round of drinks before by any of her guild members: never mind a rival guild member. They were probably scared she would burn them all to the deepest hells of dante’s inferno or something which sounds just about right, coming from a pyromancer just like herself. “W-well” Amaterasu began “No, not really. They never do, probably because I would happily burn them” which was true, she probably would. “Besides, I prefer being alone” which was also true. Back at the guild she is always alone, staring at Rei and Travis whenever he is having his daily brawl in the guild. Which is stupid in her opinion.

“I don’t mind going to a place like this on my own though, it’s nice to clear your head from the dubious burning experiences that I have encountered personally” She mentioned this as she began to count how many people she has actually burned, albeit there was too many to count in the first place.

“You prefer being alone?” Ethan asked, a glint of wonder in his eyes. “Oh...do you have any friends? I figured someone as strong as you would have a lot of them.” Being as he was, Ethan couldn't imagine if someone didn't have any friends, and the concept of someone not actually wanting any was completely alien to him. As he said this, the waitress arrived, and placed their drinks on their table. Ethan smiled, and began to suck his up through a straw, with one of his eyes meeting Ama’s, in an attempt to prompt her to answer his question.

“Strong, hah! I am only a B class” she mentioned to Ethan. There wasn’t much reason why she was a B class, she can be strong if she so desired but she doesn’t know many moves or spells to do with the power of fire personally. That, and possibly her destructive behaviour around the city. “I don’t mind my class actually, in fact. Because I know fine well it won’t affect my ability on who I burn. On another note, I am friends with Sunny. He is pretty cool. But I hardly see him because he goes out for naps a lot” she had to admit, Sunny did love his naps.

Watching the waitress come over with her drinks was pretty interesting. She plopped the drinks down and she noticed Ethan was staring at her “umm…” she cocked up a brow in confusion “is there something on my face, man??” giving out quite the hollow expression in retaliation to his weird stares.

“Nothing!” Said Ethan cheerfully as he speared a marshmallow on his straw and popped it into his mouth. “Just curious about stuff. I like to get to know the people i have drinks with and i've heard it's polite to look at people when they are speaking to you. So i did it with one eye. More to the point, do you have any questions for me?”

“hmm” Amaterasu had a little think there, this was to get to know each other?? and she has nothing interesting to admit about herself, she might as well shoot a question while the offer was still standing “So, what class are you?” She asked while she took a sip of her order, letting the warm liquid slip down her pipes. She was curious about this whole class thing, the only class that seemed to be important was an S class. And that was only because of the missions it entailed, and of the threat too, obviously. Placing her cup back down, she placed some of her hair behind her ear.

“and what are your guild like in their guild?? what… eccentrics do they have??” she may aswell ask while she was it it. Just incase they did anything that she didn’t know of, and to take mental notes of what she can use against them when the need arises. Magic was useful indeed, but you also needed strategy.


“Oh!” Ethan exclaimed, not actually expecting her to answer his question, and beginning to rack his brain for an answer. “Well, i’m an A rank, although i would be an S if i hadn’t...er...nevermind.” He shook his head and instantly started on his second question as if he had said nothing before. “My guild are...well...they vary. A lot of them have cool powers that i honestly can’t explain. Of course, that does include me and all my kinetic power. And eccentrics? Er....just about everyone really. Has their own eccentic style. I would be here all day if i were to describe them all.

He then picked up a menu, and glanced at it.
“Want some cake?”

This man had the capability to be an S class?? and she burnt him in all his glory, well surely that has probably harmed his pride quite a bit “Right in the pride” she mentioned. Amaterasu listened to his answer carefully, she was ashamed he wouldn’t name the eccentrics that she hopefully didn’t know. Otherwise she would have taken an instant mental note to the head. But she didn’t let this throw her off the ounce of conversation that they were having. “You should already know my guilds eccentrics” she said to him. Not saying much else, she wasn’t really in the mood to talk and she didn’t want to give anything away herself, it was the grand magic games soon after all. And she didn’t want to give anything away.

When Ethan mentioned about the cake, Amaterasu licked her lips slowly. She could kill for some cake at this very moment: not that she actually will. She wanted to test him and see if he was actually telling the truth or not since she can’t see the cake section on the menu.

“But, the cake is a lie…” she stated towards him, not saying much else to see what his exact reaction was, and to see if he was telling the truth.

Ethan looked at her for a moment, before commenting.
“Er...theres cake right over there.” He said, pointing to the counter. “See? Ill go get some for us…”

After about a minute, Ethan came back with two slices of chocolate cake. As soon as he sat down, he began to attack it with a spoon, as if the world was about to end and he was determined to finish his cake before it did so. After he had nearly finished, he looked up at her.

“How ish et?” he asked, his mouth still full of cake.

Amaterasu sighed softly, so he was telling the truth after all. She still didn’t trust the guy, but at least he told the truth about the cake thing. Looking where the cake was, there was so many choices of cake the two could have. Amaterasu loved cake personally, cake was really sweet and nice and sugary. It was perfect for her. It was unusual to eat something that is cold though, compared the usual oriental stuff she ate back at the guild. Watching him go get the two some of the cake and then come back to their location of seating. She looked to her cake in delight: well she was, until she looked to Ethan and saw him dominate his cake like it had no fight left in them.

“Et-Ethan” she sighed softly and shook her head. At least he was having a good time. “Manners!” she hissed.

[Zeroth]

@hatakekuro

Travis grimaced as the exchange continued, reacting as if he'd received a physical blow every time Hans brought out another terrible, terrible joke. But inch by inch, he began to regain his footing. He grit his teeth and began to formulate his counter attack. He started to open his mouth. Then Hans said the one thing he couldn't take, no matter what.

"SHSHSHSHSHSHHHH!" He suddenly slapped a bear paw over Hans's mouth, his face uncomfortably close, side to side with the pale mage's own as his eyes darted about this way and that. There was utter silence for several moments, then Travis released Hans and stepped away, still peering about like an antelope that knows a lion is nearby.

"Don't say her name!" he hissed. "Speak of the Devil Slayer and she shall appear!" Then, realizing that might possibly be a pun, he pointed one clawed finger at Hans. "And that's not a joke!"

[Inertia]

Interacting with:
Ky @Raijinslayer
Odinn @j8cob
Amaterasu @Salrynn
Ethan @Vulkan
and others I may have missed <.<

---

Rei silently declined the offer with a slight headshake, then began walking away with a small short nod towards the Harpy's guild members in a pseudo-goodbye. Rei could finally report his job to the guild. Walking through the festivities the noise was somewhat distracting and annoying to him, but he let go of it, festival and all. The aroma of food lingering as Rei felt slightly hungry, he somewhat felt the hunger after not eating during his job.

Walking through the crowd, people bumped into him, and quickly apologized. Rei didn't really care as most were accidents and unintentional. A balloon caught his eye, it flew away gradually out of the reach of a young child, who began bawling his eyes out. Rei casted gravity displacement on the balloon, carefully maneuvering it into the boys hands before turning off the magic. The boy's grin plastered across his face, as his crying stopped and turn into a hearty laugh as he ran along with his parents.

Rei walked into the guild, quickly and silently reported his job, a few guild members who were drinking stopped and began whispering at the sight of him as he passed by. A mix of fear and maybe awe,

"Wasn't that an S-class job, how'd Rei finish it in a week?"
"I heard that it was close to becoming a 10 year quest."

Rei never actually thought the whispers were about him, having a small, diminutive look at his achievements and prowess. He walked out of the rather grandeur guild and back into the sea of noise. He wanted to sate his hunger, somewhat. A cafe caught his eye, somewhat popular. A ding greeted him as he walked in the store, a waitress greeting him.

"Welco-"

She cut herself off, noticing that it was Rei, seems like he's somewhat infamous? Many patrons eyes were on him for reasons.

"Wel-Welcome Sir!"
"Please ta- take a seat!"

The waitress said, slightly stuttering with her words, another thing Rei was confused about. He sat down and opened the menu, scanning it in less than a minute,

"... Coffee and Sandwich, Egg." Rei said in his normal, cold tone, which made the waitress attending him shiver a little. She scutlled off into the back.

As he awaited his food, he noticed eyes on him, but took no heed on it as per usual. He did notice two notable individuals, the ever troublesome Amaterasu and the flamboyant knight, Ethan. They seemed to be on some outing together, normal people would have thought they were on a date, but not Rei. Rei was slightly curious since they were from different guilds but was pleased at the same time that they could get along. After staring at them for a brief moment he placed his eyes on his table, arm on said table whilst leaning on his arm.

[Raijinslayer]

Ky Xaesos

As the scene winded done, Dawn and Dusk would come hurtling down to sheathe themselves into the concrete with a loud ring,settling in an X-design. The air would shimmer slightly infront of the weapons as Ky appeared, drawing his weapons from the ground with ease and flair, adding a bit of a spin to it before finally putting the weapons away. Ky had a tendancy to try and make his entrances/exits very dramatic and 'cool', with varying success. With his little scene finished, he'd give the 3 ladies z silent bow before activating his Veil spell again, causing him to rapidly fade from view in a mysterious manner.

Stealthily making his way from the scene, he made his way into the festival, intent on finding Rei(who'd missed his awesome exit) so that the two could hold a spar, but as he was going about the place invisibly, he sudden found himself bumping into someone, and normally tney both would've fallen, but Ky was quick to regain his footing and grab the other person's hand before they could fall as well. It was at this moment, however,that he realized who he had bumped into was none other than Harpy Wing's musical maestro, Allison. This caused him to move a lot slower and methodically, as he helped pull her up and attempted to ask how she was.

_{"Are you okay?}

Emphasis on 'attemped', as his already quiet voice shrank to an near incoherent mumble, his eyes suddenly finding a nearby pebble to be very interesting. He was struck by an urge to book it, but he didn't want to be rude. That being said, he had the feeling that if he didn't leave, he'd be making a very big fool of himself in front of one of his favorite singers and secret crush. All in all, he was left in a state of nervousnesd, his hands picking at the pommels of Dusk and Dawn as ne tried to think his way through this problem.

@Lmpkio

@Masaki Haruna If you want to have Ria come in and help Ky out(however indirectly or unknowingly)

[Masaki Haruna]

Ria Tsurara

@LmpKio@RaijinSlayer
And so the Ice Witch took the opportunity to go demon hunting when Jacob used his rift magic and throw her out of the festival, it comes into her mind that it is halfhearted. A decision to attend and bond that is conflicting; Demon Hunting that leads you nowhere or get to know your guild mates more? At that time, Ria is conflicted yet half the time thankful for what situation she's put into, the very least. She came back only to know that the festival seems to be at end or have figured it already did.

Now, Ria is looking for Ceri and Klisa for something that she wanted to talk about and crash by Ms. Rainbow Ice Cream Fanatic for something as well. Ria walks with a new outfit this time. "Hey Ali and--." She stuttered up a bit after noticing the Golem Boy with a girly name. Well don't all Golems have girly names? Pretty much, she could remember one of the very few who does panty stalking rather a vibe from it every time she wears her favorite skirt. "Hello!" Amicably with her friendly warm and cold open arms to the fellow golem. "Is there something you need, Big Brother?" It all sounded so sisterly complex with the tone of her voice, so loud that it might get everyone the wrong idea. All this is done because of how her attention is left and right, not knowing what to do. Either hunt demons or what?

[Remram]

@Zeroth

"Yeesh man, just saying here name once isn't going to have her pop up here. You first have say her name three times and leave a tub of ice cream out in the middle of a pentagram as a sacrifice." Hans said in a matter a fact tone even though he was joking. In reality, even if that bull crap was true, she would run off screaming like she had done on multiple occasions when he tried to approach her. He didn't really understand why. He offered to go out and get ice cream with her once in a friendly matter and she ran as if a ghost was chasing her. All he wanted to do was leave a good impression on her and she wouldn't give him the chance. Talk about cold.

"So what's your deal with her? She isn't exactly someone that can strike terror into the hearts of people." The bone man scratched his chin wondering why Travis was so afraid of such a short, adorable person. A smug look soon spread along his face and he poked Travis' side. "Ohohohohoho. I see how it is Travis, you sly dog you. Don't worry, I won't tell a soul. I just pray that your shyness will melt away that ice of hers." He gave the Golem Hand mage a playful wink.

[j8cob]

Odinn Wierike

It seemed the display of power was enough to convince Vega to give up trying to fight. Sure, Illedrith probably helped with her mirrors, but it didn't matter much either way. As soon as Vega started walking away all the Rifts began to close one at a time until the sky was no longer perforated by their spacey shapes. With his hands back in his pockets, Odinn let out a sigh of relief. Seems I don't have to crush the place he thought to himself, making sure to keep that knowledge to himself. The Rifts he had made were prepared to forcefully eject enough massive pillars of stone to turn the street into rubble, but nobody needed to know the severity of the attack he didn't have to use. Especially not Illedrith, as she would surely berate him for being irresponsible with his power.

Speaking of Illedrith. "You owe me a drink for this," Odinn said casually, turning to face her after Rei departed. "I took time off my busy schedule to come here and I almost had to get in a fight. Not cool at all." A smile formed on his face after a brief moment of deadpan seriousness. He was joking about the complaint, but deep down he did hope she would buy him a beer. She probably wouldn't though. "You girls can have your day together though. I'll just find a quiet corner and settle down. All this walking I've been doing is troublesome." With another cocky grin he gave a wave goodbye to Illedrith, Klisa, and Ceri before walking back to the booze stand he was standing at before. "How much was it for a drink here again?"

[Salrynn]

Ethan looked up at her, chewing his cake slightly slower, until he was just looking at her with a mouth full of cake, which he proceeded to swallow very slowly. He didn’t notice the mage step in, both too busy both eating his cake and talking to his new friend.
“Erm…” he said, swallowing the last of his cake whole. “Sorry.”

Amaterasu sighed softly and started fiddling with her hair again in complete boredom. All she was really doing was eating cake and drinking stuff which tasted really nice, not to mention. It was actually quite nice and it remembered her of times she had this drink with her parents, but in a different cafe whose name she cannot recall exactly. At least the memories were nice, even if she had burned one or two people right afterwards.

Noticing that the reckless male was staring at her with cake in his mouth, she shook her head, she hasn’t even finished her own cake yet. He really did need some manners in the dining etiquette, “It’s fine…” she grumbled “You just need more manners” the lass stated rather boldly. Looking on the opposite side, she noticed Rei and her face turned to some sort of red in embarrassment. “Sh-shit!” she said to herself “Rei’s here! oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit” it was clear that she didn’t want to be in the cafe with Rei around: she was with a rival guild member AND she found Rei really cute, that she may just go really giddy for once. “Nuughhh” she mumbled before looking down disappointed.

“Erm…” she began, then she stopped. Ama felt that it wasn’t the best to say that Rei was here glaring down at them like a boss.

Ethan nodded kind of sheepishly when she told him about his manners at the table. “Yeah...sorry again. I get told that a lot. At the guild…”

Looking up from his sheepish nod, he noticed her mumble something that sounded suspiciously like “Nuughhh”. He didn't know what “Nuughhh” meant, but he assumed that it was something bad. As “Nuughhh” was similar to many other noises that were usually used in a negative fashion. More to the point, why was she making such negative noises in the middle of cake? He had never heard that before.

“Are you alright?” He asked kindly. “You didn’t have too much cake did you? I’ve done that before...I can get you some water if you want....”

Rei’s food soon arrived, delivered by a less than willing server. Her eyes just looked fearful, of course, Rei being oblivious didn’t even say anything, muttering an almost inaudible ‘Thank you.’ Of course I felt eyes on him, mostly of the patrons who had now started mumbling something, most likely about Rei.

Rei, in the middle of silently eating his food heard what seemed to be Amaterasu muttering his name in multitude. A flash of Vega causing trouble popped into his head, and so he promptly got up and walked over to her table with the knight.

Ethan turned his head to look at the newcomer. He looked vaguely familiar, but Ethan met a lot of people. He didn’t know all of them, at least, their names.
So he gave the newcomer a smile, while racking his brain to try and remember where he had seen him before.
“Hi there! Do you want the rest of my new friend’s cake? I think she has eaten too much and can’t finish it. Maybe the drinks beforehand filled her up already…”

Amaterasu was just casually looking down due to the embarrassment from Rei, until her newfound friend gained her attention, she didn’t know what to exactly say to his question. But she coughed lightly in an attempt to speak up “N-no, I haven’t a-” Her words stopped track as Rei was walking over to her table “Sh-sh-shit…” she looked around quickly but she couldn’t find a place to hide or make a distraction, sometimes: this is when she really wants to burn the hell out of him, but she is too scared too, as cliche as it sounded.

“H-hiii, Rei!” she exclaimed rather embarrassingly, this was the LAST person she wanted to see, although this was probably going to be one of the better encounters from her other members. It could have been Travis or Vega for example and she hates Vega with a passion. Like she could just burn him on sight if she so desired to.

“Ethan!” she shook her head “N-no, I have not ate too much, And the drinks before hand has certainly not filled me up, I can eat and eat and I will keep this curvaceous figure” the girl admitted, although she doesn’t exactly eat much, she could eat a lot if she wanted and stay true to them words. “How are you, Rei? I didn’t expect you to be here” she queried as she finally looked to her hands in a some-what psychotic manner, trying to resist her urge to burn him for the very first time like she did to Ethan.

Rei observed both the sitting patrons, Amaterasu and Ethan. He walked over there just to heed her call and somewhere in the back of his head to see if this dynamic duo is causing trouble. He looked down at them, instilling his clear blue sky eyes into theirs,
“... I’ll have to refuse the offer, Ethan.” he answered the Knight, his normal, cold voice calling out. Rei switched his gaze from Ethan to Amaterasu, “Did you call me?”

The force mage was watching quite intently as the conversation played out. His new friend was getting...uncomfortable. Why was that? Who was this guy? He briefly considered asking this newcomer to leave, only to get distracted by something the girl said about herself, causing his eye to wander down for a moment before looking back up again, blushing a bit. Finally, he stared into the blue eyes of the newcomer.
“Gosh, those are some nice eyes.”
He then snapped into reality, remember where he was, what he was doing, and why he shouldn't be staring at eyes, or in the girl’s case...something else. It was then, that he realised that the person knew his name, instantly, the penny dropped.
“Oh god…” He muttered…

“I blew up your house one time, didn't i? i've told you people before, that compensation comes from the guild. Did you own that building we were fighting next to earlier? Because i don't know which guild is gonna pay up, seeing as we come from different ones...”

The fire lady was still looking at her hand, trying to stop her flames from bursting into action and let each of its strand dance happily around her hand. She actually grunted slightly and managed to stop her urge. Although that may not last for long, she didn’t care, she was happy she managed to stop the urge for the time being. She looked to Rei again and then Ethan, it was as if one of them asked her a question. But she can’t remember it because she was too focused on stopping that flame of hers from emerging. “Eh?” she simply said, blinking once or twice to keep herself from screwing up.

“Can you repeat that please??” she tilted her head sweetly but coldly, as if nothing actually happened just then to her and her mental urge to stop burning the crap out of people. She looked away from the two after that and didn’t answer nor did she speak, she just had a forkful of cake and…

ate it.

Rei’s scowl turned a bit darker, “Fighting?” he asked, the pitch of his voice deepening. He had just dealt with Vega picking a fight with the Harpy’s, now this. Although looking at it, it seems like the fight didn’t hurt any civilians, only collateral damage. He did a short sigh, closing his eyes lightly and opening them once again,
“Did you both fight, and if you did, avoid it.” he commented in an unintended harsh tone, “Both the guildmasters specifically pointed out that there shouldn’t be any fighting in this festival.”

Though noting they were at a pub chatting like old friends, Rei hoped that it wouldn’t reach the guildmaster’s ears.
After Amaterasu’s question and odd action of shoving a fork full of cake into her mouth, Rei reiterated his question,
“Did you call me, if you didn’t I’ll go back to my table and continue eating.”

Ethan's mouth dropped as he heard the newcomer mention the guildmasters. He was a guild member? But that would mean…
“Oh thank god!” He said, resting his forehead on the table. “You are just a golem’s hand mage. I thought you were someone else who i need to pay damages to.” With this, he took a sigh of relief. “So what can i do for you? And also, what’s my new friend’s name? She hasn't told me and i can;t keep referring to her as...well, “Her. “ ”

Amaterasu knew she was fucked the moment Rei questioned her about the fighting, and felt her cheek slightly before looking to Ethan’s cheek. She was now remembering the little impulsive spar the two had before deciding to go to the pub and act buddy buddy. Although this was merely because Amaterasu couldn’t be bothered paying for her own food. “We were fighting yes” Amaterasu admitted “But it was in an alleyway, so it was in a secluded area away from the festival itself. Nobody was harmed except us two” She also admitted, pointing at Ethan’s cheek from when she did her flame kick to his face.

“And no, I didn’t call you… However I did say you name in a surprised reaction because I didn’t expect you here at all” Amaterasu seemed to speak clearly yet shyly towards Rei, she didn’t like the fact that she was so scared of him. She wanted to warm up to him somehow, but the two were not made for each other, they both preferred being alone and both preferred to speak as little as possible.

“Oh and, erm. Don’t bother telling him my name” Although she doesn’t know if Rei actually will or not, he does prefer to tell others what's going on after all, and it just seemed more sensible to. Which Amaterasu didn’t like as much, but it happens.

[Vulkan]

Ethan turned to her for a moment, a confused look on his face.
“B...but why don't you want me to learn your name?” He asked, looking a little crestfallen. “I thought we were becoming friends.”

“Appreciated that you have told me the details.” Rei replied to Amaterasu, “I’ll let it go this once, avoid it, at least during the festival.” He also noted that mark on Ethan’s face, slightly charred before looking back at the both of them. Another soft sigh escaping his lips, he heeded her request and did not mention her name. He promptly turned around without a word of ‘goodbye’ and paced himself back to his table, where his food had probably gone cold.
On his way, a waitress bumped into him by accident, a tray full of plates falling, before it crashed he used his magic to prevent them from doing so, and lifted them back onto the tray. He continued his strut to his table, sat down, and began eating. The server carrying the tray was bewildered and slightly blushed, she was somewhat thankful, but couldn’t bare to say a word of thanks to Rei. Not that Rei expected it.

The food was cold after all.

Ethan looked at the mage leaving, then looked back at his...er...acquaintance. He wasnt quite sure what to think, and suddenly felt quite awkward. If she wasn't interested in being friends, then why was she here? Why would anyone want to go to a cafe with someone if they weren't friends? And after he had decided to pay for bo…

...oh.

...right.

He looked at her for a moment. He was tempted to ask her exactly why she was here, but decided against it. For the moment.

“So...umm…” he started, not sure how to finish that sentance with his sudden thoughts.

“...are we actually friends? Or are you here for a different reason?” He blurted out.

Amaterasu watched Rei leave the table and show off his super cool powers. “Pfft…” she sighed, she wished her magic could do that sometimes. But she can only burn people. Which is what she has been accustomed to for years upon years of knowing the magic. She sighed softly and looked to Ethan before smiling and acting cheerful as if that whole encounter with Rei didn’t even happen.

When Ethan asked his question, she curved her brows out and gave the man a glance before answering his question “... Yes … We are friends” she played with her hair. She doesn’t know if she actually means that or not, but she can at least try to ease Ethan’s mind. “Oh and, my name… is Amaterasu, named after the goddess of the sun” She stated, just because she knew this man would probably keep trying to find out.

Ethan gave her a smile, relieved to hear what she said, although he still wasn’t entirely convinced. “Amaterasu….that's kind of a nice name. Fitting too, as you seem to like burning things. A lot. It's kinda cool.”

Looking over to the mage who had just left, he looked back at her. “So..are you and him...er...involved? Not that who you date is any of my business, so i’m not sure why i’m asking…” He stuttered, realising he had just dug himself into a hole.

Amaterasu smiled at his compliment “Thankyou…” she said and stared at Rei once more, no matter how much she stares at him: she keeps saying to herself that she will never even have a good friendship with him. Even though he is really cute, she can’t really do anything much about it. When she heard Ethan’s question, she looked to Ethan and had the reddest face ever, kind of like a tomato. “W-well, not really… it sucks, I really do like him. But he scares me too.” she waggled her finger at him, as if she was adamant with her words.

She finally looked back to her half finished cake and finally ate the rest of it “Oh man, that’s delicious!” she grinned.

Well, she was grinning until she heard some gasps and some person shouting. This got Amaterasu curious. But it was only a waiter spilling a hot coffee on one of his customers.

“Well, that’s him fucked” she stated, looking to Rei once more to see what his reaction will be “This… is probably not going to go down well” She was looking at the scene once more and then seen the man standing up and slapping the waiter in the face. “Oh, dear…”


The smack echoed across the room, Rei stopped from placing the food in his mouth and got up once more. Making his way to the source of the sound. His glare ever present, and it’s plastered all over the man who had just slapped the waiter. The man’s pretentious look quickly faded as he saw Rei approaching, replaced by a look of apprehension and fear.
Rei was the type of person who didn’t stand for injustices, despite him not showing it that much, and this was just a mistake. He didn’t say a word, instead grabbing the man by the collar and holding him upwards from the ground. This was possible for him because of the training he goes through, especially under his powers. He looked him square in the eye, his sky eyes gleaming under the darkness of the cafe,
“Enough.”

With one word he managed to freeze the noise permeating the room, Rei had the mind to carry him and throw him outside, but the manager intervened and politely asked Rei to put him down. Rei complied, dropping the man on his bum and quietly walked back to his seat, the room now filled with whispers directed towards Rei and his actions.

The food’s even colder now.

Amaterasu looked to Rei and panicked ever so slightly, she really did re-confirm herself that she really was scared of the S class mage. But it does inspire her to an extent. She just knows that it isn’t going to go as well as it originally intended to be. Coughing ever so lightly she stood up and looked to Ethan “I’ll pay” she stated, she was originally going to let him pay. But he was good company so she offered to pay in return. “As thank you… for being good company, even though we are rivals. I will still try to burn you, but I won’t forget this moment”

Ethan smiled as he watched the other mage as he lifted some jerk up by his collar, before dropping him and returning to his seat. He gave the mage an approving thumbs up, although he doubted if the mage actually saw. They never did. Still, it was pretty decent how he helped that waiter. Ethan would have done it himself, but...this was one of the few buildings that he liked, so he wouldnt have been able to do much...sometimes he hated his lack of finesse.

...most of the time, he loved it though.

Turning back to Ama, he was about to comment on what had just happened, only to be surprised as she got up, and offered to pay.
“But...i thought we were splitting…” he mumbled as she looked to him, before shutting himself up and composing himself. Today had just been full of surprises.

“Thank you!” HE said brightly, “But i must insist that we both pay! It’s only fair. You seem really nice though! Maybe we should hangout again sometime! How about we hang out again in a few days? I’ve needed a new sparring partner since the accident with the mime...”

Amaterasu sighed softly and looked at him before nodding. “Okay then, we can split…” Amaterasu originally didn’t want to split the money as she wanted free food in general, but cheaper food sounds fair enough in the eyes of the fire lady.

“And as much as I would like to spar with you again, it will be unlikely… we are rivals… remember, I will always be burning people anyway… It will be useless” Amaterasu stated as she looked to him. She knows everything will be okay somehow with them constantly sparring, but she will have to catch him first, and the two will need to meet up as rivals and not friends, or she wouldn’t be able to cope with much more. “I think the festival will be over soon. We may need to return to our guilds, will I burn you next time though, nobody will ever know”

Amaterasu looked to Ethan though and held her hand out towards him “It was… er… lovely meeting you” Amaterasu had her hand, heating up her hand to a reasonably hot temperature so when they did shake hands, he would be in trouble. This was to remind him that they are rivals and not buddy buddy. But if they did work together on something then they could act as friends then.

Ethan was a little disappointed when she politely turned down his sparring offer, but understood her reasons perfectly. He often forgot about how seriously people took this feud.
“It...er…” he said, a little flustered. “It was nice meeting you too.” He then proceeded to take her hand and shook it tightly.

And...tried not to wince as Ama burned his hand while he did so. He stared at her for a moment, and slowly pulled his hand away before the heat could solder them together.
“...thank you.”

[Zeroth]

@hatakekuro

"Seriously? You think I have a crush on her?" Travis pulled a similar face as he had when he had nearly come to blows with Vega. "Have you ever actually talked to that crazy loli? It's like diarrhea of the mouth with her. And she's as bad as Vega when it comes to throwing her magic around over stupid shit."

He shook his head and sighed, his arms turning back to normal as he picked up what was left of his plate of nachos.

"Anyway, man, enjoy the rest of the festival. The pun thing...actually wasn't really so bad." He chuckled. "I'll try to think up some more next time, huh? You've won the battle, but not the war, Hans-y. I'll see ya around."

Hopping the cafe's fence rail again he headed back out into the street. Arm wrestling, snack food, pun wars...Vega was a dark cloud on this otherwise sunny day, but Travis could ignore him long enough to finish out the rest of the day. Probably. Hopefully. He decided to swing by the game booths, though he'd give Hans's doppleganger a break. Maybe some of the townspeople had cardboard cutouts of Vega.

Much mirth and cheer was had by the residents of Luna Crescente, with food and fun and, of course, the inevitable chaos brought by mage guilds. It probably wouldn't even have mattered if the mages of either Golem's Hand or Harpy's Wing could be considered "normal" personalities. The art of magic was the art of taking a piece of one's self and uniting it with the energies of nature. The product of that connection, the energy unleashed by that reaction, was Magic. Magic was reflective of one's self. Mages could never avoid standing out in society, because as long as they used Magic, they would lay their hearts bare to the world.

And just as it was natural for them to stand out among those who did not use that power, it was natural for them to gather among those of like nature. Desires and fears. Dark pasts, and hope for the future. Friendships and hardships. Alliances and rivalries. For a mage, all could be found in one place:

The Guild.

---

After the events of the festival, Travis headed back to his apartment building with a tired, slogging gait. He'd eaten til he felt like bursting, played til he felt like passing out, and now he looked forward to a bright new morning and the work it would--hopefully--bring.

"Wonder who I should work with tomorrow?" he thought as he stood on his doorstep, wrestling with his pockets for his keys. "Hm. If that monster hunting job is still up I might ask Sunny. And maybe..." He finally got the door open, and strode into the flat. It was a simple arrangement, just a two bed, single bath layout (though he didn't have a roommate, so the second bedroom was just a storage/workout room) with a small living area and attached kitchen. "Nah, Amy will be my last resort--before Vega, at least. If Rei's around I'll ask him. Or Ky."

He locked the door and pulled his jacket off as he walked into his bedroom, but didn't bother with anything else. Flopping down on his back, arms and legs spread haphazardly across the covers, the Take-Over mage was soon sound asleep and snoring as loudly as the Arzuros.

[Raijinslayer]

The Next Day

In the Golem's Hand guild, Ky woke up, stretching a bit as he looked out the window of his room, feeling like the festival yesterday had gone, well enough. THe low point of the day, however, was when he used Ria's intrusion to mutter off a garbled excuse, released Allison's hand, and quickly fled the seen feeling quite embarrassed with himself. Definitely not one of his finest moments, to be sure, but hopefully it wouldn't comeback to bite him in the ass one day. Now that he was up, he went through his regular schedule, brushing his teeth, taking a quick, cold shower to wake himself up, than a slightly longer one to actually clean himself, before walking down to the guild hall proper, deciding to check on the requests for the day.

On the notice board where a bunch of missions, from ones he wouldn't think of taking, they were so out of his league, to others that were so easy he could do them in his sleep. He wasn't in the mood for something super difficult today, but definitely wasn't looking for a walk in the park. He wanted something mildly challenging today, and a few missions seemed to qualify. One was a monster hunting mission that he was pretty sure Travis had expressed interest in yesterday, so he could join the hot head on that mission, though the monster looked like a real doozy of a beast. The next was a request asking for mages to take out a rogue robot some mage had created that had holed up in a cave system across the lake. It was apparently real strong and had deemed itself a protector of the lake and protesting the hunting of it's fish with lethal results. Another mission called for the rescue of a girl who'd been kidnapped into the forest by some local bandits, a few of them were rogue mages and thus considered highly dangerous, and the leader in the possession of some sort of magical artefact as well. The final mission that he found of interest was one including an old wizard requesting for a few young mages to come to his home and keep him company, as well as partake in a few experiments for him. While not the most exciting, this was obviously a man of means,a s the rewards listed for the job were quite high for the tasks given.

_{"So many choices . . . so little time . . ."}

In the Harpy's Wing Guild, these same quest were also present, as well as one asking for the robot's safe return rather than it's destruction and another detailing a mysterious sickness being present in some of the wildlife in the town's lake, causing them to mutate and attack the populace. The corruption had been traced to a nearby system of underwater caves, though what may be the cause is anybody's guess, as non-sent into the caves have ever returned to tell.

[Salrynn]

Despite the incident with the cafe, Amaterasu decided to head back to the guild to see what everyone was up to. And to see if there were any quests going about that would interest her. Due to her urge to stop burning someone for the very first time (but burning someone else later) she decided that this may be the best path to take for the time being just so she can burn things like a boss, and like the fire mage she truly was: and it might help her keep in control of her fire powers too.

Time skipping to the guild

Amaterasu finally entered the guild after some time and spotted absolutely nobody in the guild. "Well then, there was no point coming here then!" Amaterasu blurted out in that stern tone of hers, at least she wasn't burning anything. "I guess I can simply wait then, I wouldn't like to quest on my own... that would be ridiculous" She played with her hair as she looked down, she really wanted a girl when these moments came. Everyone seemed to be either scared of her or annoyed by her fire magic, maybe if there was another girl she could easily hang out with... then she would probably be hairdressing or questing together other then burning everyone like it was some quest or something. If she gained gold for how many times she burns people she would probably be some sort of millionaire.

Ignoring all the other facts, Amaterasu sorted out her dress and decided to sleep in the guild until someone or something disturbed her or woke her up, depending what came first. Maybe being woken up, or disturbed. To her it was the same as asking if the chicken or the egg came first, it was just impossible to answer.