In The Times Of Fairy Tails

He hadn't thought to his childhood in years. "I come from a country called Sian. I lived there with my parents, my brother Ezekiel, and my sister. Ezekiel was always the leader of the band. Once, my mother came down with a terrible illness. Most doctors predicted she wouldn't make it through the year, but Ezekiel refused to give up on her. When we were young, our father would tell us tales of wizards. Powerful men and women who commanded forces beyond our imagination. Ezekiel disappeared into the night to find one. Someone who could help us. I feared he wouldn't make it, so I went with him. While we were out in the desert, a scorpion with a deadly venom stung me. I nearly didn't make it through the night, but fate decided I would live that day. A traveler happened upon us. He was adept in healing magic, and saved my life. Immediately, we begged him to come home with us, to our mother. After a few days, he'd succeeded. Her fever broke, and the sickness was gone. Ezekiel and i marveled at what magic could do, and that was merely one kind. That was what began our interest in the magical arts."

Ra smiled, thinking back to his early days with Ezekiel. The two had been inseparable. "As we grew older into our teen years, we were both capable magicians, though far from our peak. Ezekiel was unnaturally gifted in the arts of manipulating magic. Its fitting that he would find his true calling in Arcane Magic. We traveled together, studying magic in its various forms. Eventually, our studies took us to more remote locations. There, we uncovered a lost magic. Arcane. While magic can have an innumerable variety of effects based on how the caster molds it, all magic begins the same way. Magic power, created in our bodies. Arcane Magic skips the step of molding it, and simply releases the energy in its most raw state, creating one of the most powerful, but most dangerous possible ways to use magic. The apex of this magic was known as Ascension. Become magic itself. You already know the story behind what happened next with Ezekiel."

Ra returned to the other members of his family, not just his brother. "As for the others, my parents are still alive in Sian, along with my little sister Adamaris. She's fourteen, so she hasn't left home yet. I've got a picture of her in my dorm. I'll show it to you sometime, if you like. Hm..What else...The armor i always wear was my father's. He gave it to me when I joined Sapphire Eclipse. It's a bit of a family heirloom, from what he's told me. I'm afraid that's more or less all there is to tell."​

 

"Ye dinnae need ta apologise fer et. Ye weren't ta ken, an' yer hardly the ******* tha' did it soo,,, Et's fine where Ee stand at least." Edric replied, taking a drink. Thinking about it made him sad, but at least he was clouding up his head so that the memories didn't rush back in an instant. The more clouded his mind, the better. However, clearly whatever he said did little to assuage the doubts of Conrad. Indeed, he cried anew. Edric beckoned for another drink as he had since emptied his own flagon. He took a swig from the new drink that he was given and then looked back at Conrad. The man's face had changed significantly. He didn't like that look. That was a pissed look. Mixed with sadness yes, but there was an anger burning in those eyes behind the tears. He'd seen himself in a mirror enough to recognise that look from back when everything had happened. Conrad's question took him a little off guard, so he had to consider it. He sipped the drink and pondered the question. "Well, Ee suppose et depends on yer point o' view. There's a justice o' sorts en tha boot... It didnae bring her back. Ee'll ne'er get me Sabrina back an' tha's the truth of et. I wouldnae advise killin' them... Ee was a guard ya ken? Ran aroond arrestin' killers. I en't fond of 'em honestly. Don' goo doown tha' road. I en't proud o' what Ee did, but fer the good o' everyone... T'were fer the best. If ye en't got a good reason, ye shouldnae end a leef. Ye ne'er ken, change es possible. Death es fer the unforgivable. Ye look like a man who'll kill a man right noo, an' Ee'll tell ye this. Rethink yerself. A leef es a heavy burden. Ee'm a lil' too used ta the idea, done et soo much en me line o' work. Scumbags o' course, but tha's not the point. Ye'll be worse fer it."




Vance heard Shani call out to him and he walked over to greet her, raising a hand as he approached.
"I'm surprised myself. Were I only a little quicker I'd have made it to second. Sadly, Miss Calxiyn as her name appears to be, stole my place." Vance replied. "It can't be helped. No matter, fourth is good. It establishes that I am at least somewhat competent." He was about to order a drink, but then he noticed. Thea had gone elsewhere. He looked from side to side. She was definitely gone. Where was she? She disappeared so quickly. Damn kids. Always moving around so fast. She always disappeared like that. Keeping track of her while they were shopping earlier was nightmarish. The only way of tracking her he really had was the excited squealing if she found something that she liked. Honestly, if he hadn't insisted on only getting one, she would have come back with more than one dress. It didn't help that he didn't want to upset her because Thea's tantrums usually caused a rise in ambient heat temperature at the very least, if not worse.
"In any case, there's a surprising turnout. Plenty of people like me here too. I ought to take a look around." He continued. As he explored the room with his eyes, he spotted someone who looked very regal. "By the Gods, is that a princess? How does the Guild know royalty? I'm certain I've seen her at one of the King's functions... You'll have to pardon me, I've got a lot of socialising to do. I'm sure you know how it is. I'll make my way back here later Shani, I promise. I'd happily wager you can drink most people here under the table and you've probably got the stamina to go longer than the rest." Vance immediately began to move towards the Princess-looking lady, who also seemed to be accompanied by a princely looking figure that was far, far too close to the matronly lady next to him to be decent. Am I misunderstanding something here or...? He smirked. With a bit of luck, he could make an impression on a princess. He had a wealthy daughter already. All he needed was the bride and then his father would be happy. The curse would present a problem, but he was Vance Dorian. Besides, they had that Oracle here now which could provide an answer to that particular question. Yes, it would be a dishonour to poor Nessa, but that was done. He doubted that she was here, and she had probably all but gotten over it. He had. It was the way of things. One couldn't be held up for too long. And that contract was ridiculous anyway. This was the real world. Such things only worked in idealism and well, frankly, nobody could blame him. In fact, the fault lay with the person who made the contract for making such a ridiculous condition in the first place! ​

 

Conrad Heinrich Adelbrecht Carsten von Eisenstein II

Conrad listened to what Edric had said, taking another drink himself as well. He caught Vance going for a drink as well and silently prayed to the Mother he wouldn't notice him in this state or he'd get it and things would probably escalate way out of hand before anyone could intervene. He looked to Edric who had warned him against murdering those that had wronged him. "I wouldn't end a life if I didn't think it was possible for them to change for the better, but what they did is unforgivable...the entire reason I am here is so that I may grow stronger to either exact revenge upon the bastards or free my dear sister... I'm sorry I guess I should start at the begining... before I came here, I lived on the family estate together with my parents, I was the second born and therefore had no reason to worry about taking over the family company, I spent time with my younger siblings, just looking after them whenever needed... I enjoyed it really, had grown rather fond of my younger siblings. Even when I had been around less for them after it turned out I was a mage at the selection for the Officer Corps... My father wasn't very positive about mages, he had mentioned it before the discoverybut atleast didn't treat me any different. Anyways one afternoon my younger sister, Abigail... she asked me to go with her for a walk...I returned alone.... we were intercepted by a trio of mages... they demanded I handed Abi over, I refused and tried to fight for her safety... despite my efforts to defend her, they overpowered me, I blacked out and when I regained consiousness she was gone... and a letter was all that was left... I left the letter at my father's office, told him what happened, he wasn't pleased in the least... I still feel guilty for failing her and hell I'm not even sure if she's still alive..." He closed up again fighting the tears, they were all old wounds never properly healed and he himself was ripping them open, once more hoping it wouldn't leave it's scars. He had talked about it with Tessa after she asked him about it, saying he had mumbled her name in his sleep. He faltered in keeping the tears under control "She's......she's probably....dead by now...all because of me..." Conrad said, taking a large swig of his drink wiping away the tears and clenching his fists. Angry at himself for his failure, that day and failure for trying to keep himself together his heart was beating fast and his blood was boiling, he slammed his fist into the table again. "I'll make them pay... I swore it that day and I will do so again......If they so much as harmed her, I shall take something precious from them in return...." He could keep himself from shouting those words so all would hear them.

 

"Thee must protect thy father, but telleth not of what I hath said to thee or else he wilt bethink thou art speaking in false-hoods. Stealing thy father forsooth, those gents all steal of course. Thee do see that wench?" She pointed to Zeph. "They're all the same, the very lot of those folk. Sirrah, they're g*ps**s, they'll rob thee and thy father blind." Nessa explained to her, as if she were an old women telling a believable folk tale to a child.


"I recently did a mission at Sian, it was beautiful. It sounds lovely, to remember your childhood in full." Her voice trialed off. "I'd-I'd like to see that picture of your sister, I bet there's striking resemblance between you." Calxiyn smiled. "I've always wanted a younger sister, but fate wasn't so gracious to me." She laughed it off again though now there was visible pain in her voice as well as her whole holding of herself.

 

Conrad Heinrich Adelbrecht Carsten von Eisenstein II

The amount of alcohol the young noble had taken in in such a short while that he was a bit out of it, in combination with all the emotions rushing through him. He hadn't noticed the young Thea walk up to them, mainly just because he didn't have eyes in the back of his head and there was too much noise going on to properly hear footsteps. The anger still coursing through his veins and taken by surprise by the young girl standing behind both him and Edric, he quickly turned his head before seeing who it was or recornising their voice he spoke up nearly shouting. "Yes? What is it? Do I really have to be disturbed every five bloody minutes?" in a voice full of annoyance, when he saw who it was he immediatly regretted it. The girl couldn't really take any emotional outburst towards her and he knew it. Well it was too late now anyways. He looked to Edric "Give me a minute." He said thinking it wouldn't take very long to sort this out at all. He looked at the young girl, a bit more considerate of her feelings and putting up a gentler tone he asked her: "Yes, Thea? What is it?"The girl had aleady seemed a bit troubled but he didn'trust his senses at the moment but if there was already something that bugged her what had just transpired really wouldn't help. "You haven't really picked a good moment to come talk to me Thea but I'm sure we can keep it brief." He added, he was certain even the young girl could smell the alcohol in his breath, but he really didn't care.

 

Quinn had already had a few drinks, so along with Gexln, he was a bit tipsy. Tipsy enough to be regaining his HP with Zeph and Gexln on the dance floor. "Yo. Sup." He said to Zeph before ending the conversation there because he wasn't into women who occasionally had penises. It wasn't long before Trevor approached him. God, he could feel the buzzkill just by looking at him. He sighed. If he was coming to him, it was probably important...He spoke about not trusting himself, and said that George was angry. He suspected he would be. Although, the one he was really worried about was Derk. "Yeah, I'll keep an eye out for you. If you start acting suspicious, i'll check it out. If it turns out it isn't you, i'll deal with whichever one took over before anything happens. Don't worry." He was about to walk away, but stopped. "Oh and Trevor" He said before turning around. "You owe me a round for this." ​

 

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Malkira strode confidently into the Guildhall, such wonder! Such colourful characters! Malkira himself had wanted to dress up for the occasion but there wasn't exactly anything he could do. He was slightly disappointed at being so far behind in the tournament but he supposed there were just so many other powerful people at this guild, most of whom had been there longer. Malkira's hulking form passed through the crowd, towering above everyone else. Soon enough he saw Calxiyn amongst the crowd, happy to have finally found his friend he strode forward... and stopped suddenly. She was deep in conversation with some kid, a very handsome tanned young man. Well... so? Was that a problem? Nope, not at all... at least that was what Malkira told himself. Looking at them for a moment he deduced that she was not simply having a brief conversation with a friend, she was paying rapt attention to him and they were talking about pretty serious stuff... was she flirting with this blond young man? On second thoughts why did Malkira care, he wasn't jealous at all of this blond young handsome human with elegantly carved features. Nope not at all. Malkira clenched his fists. He had to intervene. Pretending to be calm and happy Malkira strode right up and interrupted
"Hey Calxiyn! Sorry to interrupt but I haven't seen you in a while, you know, since I saved your life that time" Although he was speaking to Cal he was glancing at the blond kid, who did this guy think he was? "Congratulations on coming second in the tournament by the way! It was a rather spectacular performance, I rather admired your strength" Yeah that's right prettyboy, what are you going to say now? Who even are you? Just because you're not a soul trapped in a statue you think you're so tough.

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Damian gulped as he entered the Guildhall Ohhh damn there are so so many people here I can't deal with this. He thought, but swallowed his trepidation and strove into the crowd. Some of these people he knew, others were mysterious faces that seemed to loom above. stop looking at me stop looking at me stop looking at me. Just being in such a massive crowd was giving Damian paranoia, he was anxious enough around just a few strangers, this was ridiculous. When he arrived at the bar he found NOBODY SERVING AT IT. (Sam rolled his eyes, I mean what kind of party doesn't have a bar? Are we just supposed to get drinks from the drunkard? Also where are the non-alcoholic drinks? Everyone at this party seems smashed). Wandering through the crowd, and certainly not mustering enough confidence to talk to anyone, let alone dance, he looked for a familiar face.

 

Calxiyn looked over at Malkira and frowned, seeing there was some kind of seething emotion coming from Malkira. Calxiyn smiled falsely as now she was upset. "Thank you Malkira! That means a lot to me!" She continued, then looking down with a hurt expression on her face. She looked back up and tried to smile again. She then saw her hand was still on Ra's, and pulled it away, embarrassed.

 

While dancing like an absolute boss, Gexln noticed out of the corner of his eye a terrible tragedy. Someone had approached the bar only to be served no alcohol. The lad clearly didn't know how things worked around here, nobody was responsible enough to serve at the bar so you had to get it yourself. At least, that's what he had done before devouring far too much alcohol. And so, the noble dragon slayer decided to right this heinous wrong. He stopped dancing and leaped over to the bar. Nobody is missing out on a drink on my watch he thought to himself. Lurching forward, Gexln gripped the massive keg that contained much of the alcohol that was usually supplied. With a heave, he ripped it out of the wall because dragon slayers are bullshit strong, then carried it over to Damian and sat it down at his feet. "Drink the bloody thing. We've got plenty. I will be the bartender for this party, because a certain someone is too busy making out with an emo to do her job" he stated, the smell of alcohol on his breath evident.​

 

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Damian was rather astonished at the reckless display the dragon slayer performed as the man offered him alcohol straight from the keg "Uh... I'm sorry I wasn't looking for alchohol, just something to drink... uh... do you have non-alcoholic cocktails?" Damian asked nervously, he avoided eye contact with the man as he was still feeling rather anxious. He'd had cocktails once before at a party and liked them, but he didn't want the same incident that happened at the bar so was avoiding alcohol. On the other hand the beer would probably make him enjoy this party much more... but was it really worth the risk?

 

"I am having fun, now piss off or bring someone entertaining. Like Derk, Derk is awesome. You should let Derk take control for a while. DERK ARE YOU IN THERE?" he yelled out in response to Trevor, before slowly turning to face Damian. "There are no non alcoholic cocktails here. We don't serve bitches here. Mama didn't raise no bitch. Take Trevor's made up drink, or if you want to be a real man you can drink straight from the keg. Go on, do it. Chug, chug, chug!" Gexln began chanting.​

 

Ra's smile turned into a worried look as her voice trailed off. He'd clearly said something he shouldn't have. Likely, it had to do with her family. He didn't know what happened, but he imagined it was nothing good. He'd heard that she had killed before...perhaps it had something to do with her mask. She spoke as though she were an entirely different person when she'd battled them with it on. What it must be like, to carry a burden like that...

"I was considering going to visit them sometime, when I've got a bit between jobs. Perhaps you could come to meet her. I imagine she'd immediately take a liking to you. Knowing her, she'd likely even view you as her older sister." He offered, trying to say something that might make her feel better. He felt bad for upsetting her, but before the conversation could continue, an enormous stone creature approached them, congratulating Cal on her placement in the tournament while glaring daggers at him. He didn't know what that was about, but he imagined that he had some dislike for him. "You see? I wasn't the only one who believed in you. Your strength is plain for all to see. We are humbled by your might, miss Calxiyn." The bronze skinned man said in a half joking tone. First he'd laughed, now he was joking? He'd changed more than he realized...He only hoped he'd be able to repair the damage he'd done to her mood. ​

 

"You know actually, sword magic... Sounds good. The whole requip business that Cassandra does looks great. I'm a fighter more than a wizard anyway, so if I can I'll try and get that. It'll suit me I think." Jack actually had a pretty good suggestion there. She hadn't really thought about much before as she'd said, but how she didn't think of something so obvious was beyond her. Though, she was pretty low down the tables so she'd probably never get it. Then, he mentioned what had happened on their previous mission. "Yeah... I do." She nodded. Surprisingly, Alessia found herself agreeing with him. Maybe he wasn't too bad, just strange sometimes.
"But hey- Enough about that. We're at a party right? No time for that kind of sad talk!" She said, putting some life back into her voice. This was meant to be a happy event, so she tried to divert the conversation away. "Hey, did you just say that you saw Clara? Here? I'm going to go find her. I want to catch up with her. It's been a while, and she's come all this way." Alessia walked away, knowing that Jack was probably going to come with her. He probably had similar sentiments, though she did desperately hope that he didn't insistent on following her around like a lost puppy all evening. it wouldn't be great having him as baggage that trailed her around. She needed her own space! And how was she meant to talk to anyone if he went everywhere with her? After a little bit of walking around and scanning the throng of people in the Guild Hall, she spotted Clara and hurried over.
"Hey Clara, it's been a while!" She called, waving as she approached. What immediately struck her was that she looked every inch the princess tonight. "So, how have things been?"




As Vance walked through the crowd towards Dominique, he managed to catch sight of Thea in her distinctive new dress. She had walked across from somewhere and was now talking to... Conrad? He stopped for a moment, watching. The more he looked, the more something became immediately apparent to him. Conrad was not entirely sober. The fact that there was a glass of some sort of drink next to him made it clear enough, but also his complexion. The area around his eyes looked red too. Overall, something seemed off, but Edric was there and would ensure that nothing bad happened. As irresponsible as the drunk seemed, Evanora was not likely to pick someone completely useless and unsuited for their job. He then turned his attention to where Thea had come from, and his eyes opened wide. Nessa?! Here? He supposed he had better go and see what she was here for. Presumably the tournament, but he hadn't got the impression that she got out a lot before so... It was surprising that she would show up here and now of all times and places. He was inclined to think that this wasn't a terribly high class event, but there were at least two if not more royal appearing people that he had spotted thus far and there may well be more. This place... It was quite the interesting network of contacts. If he got the chance, he'd have to try and establish some contacts as well. Having a royal indebted to the Dorians would serve them well indeed. Vance walked over to say hello to the wheelchair-bound noblewoman.
"Greetings to you on this auspicious evening, Lady Thropp. Does the prestige of this tournament bring you here, as it seems to have many others?" He asked.




Edric nodded to Conrad as he took up business with the young lady for a moment. Whatever she wanted, he had no idea. Instead, he contented himself with watching what was happening in the room. Gexln was now managing the bar in place of Johanna who was spending a little bit of time with her new boyfriend. Then he noticed something. He was trying to get Damian drunk. Uh oh. That boy didn't know how to handle his liquor!
"Oi, Gexy! Careful wi' tha' one! He dinnae ken hoo ta handle his drink!" Edric called. If he can get anything down his throat after what happened the last time Damian had a drink I'll actually be impressed.​

 

Jack's pov:

Alessia had said a few things including that this was a celebration. "Ok, I will see you later, and I will talk to Clara later." He called after her. He the desided to walk around. (Until person he was going to talk to is free)

 

Calxiyn blushed at Ra's comment and smiled as she received it. "My strength comes from my friends, I couldn't have done it without you." She grinned at Ra, and then gave a smaller, sweet smile to Malkira as well.


"I cameth to see how you'd fair in hurlyburly and thee hath lived up to mine desires and beyond those folk." She spoke to Vance sweetly. "The guild wilt wot many people of royalty, I see familiar faces hither myself. I'm not surpris'd thy Guild would hast such esteem'd guests. " Nessa paused. "However, thither art some people hither of the unsavory kind." She glared at Shani before turning her attention back to Vance. "Mine eyes wilt dissemble me, mine lord, but, is that a G*sp* thee wast speaking to? Someone of thy status of course, would never associate thy self with a G*sp* wench.
Such Heathens. I suspect thee knoweth better. I can't imagine what those gents would say about thee if 't be true those gents kneweth."

Nessa spoke unnecessarily loud in order for Shani to hear her. She glared at her again. "But I'm sure thither is a sensible explanation, I would like to hear it."


Shani saw the women glaring at them and saying horrible things about her, and she turned to Florica. "Should I go and set her straight?" She whispered to her companion.

"Aren't you curious to see how Vance responds. Try to look like you haven't heard a thing, see how he reacts. You can judge a lot by a man's character this way." Florica told her, calming her down. "But if Vance doesn't, I do suggest we stand up for ourselves, and deal with Vance at a later date, is that alright?"

"I agree. Thank you, Florica."




Dominique couldn't help but give a small smile to Zwei as he sat down. "I am overjoyed to see you again. When Samantha got the invitation she didn't hesitate to invite me as well, you don't know how badly I've wanted to see you. You battled so bravely in the tournament." She then looked down at his hand to see the ring she had given him was still on his finger. She laughed quietly. "I see you still have it, that makes me very happy."

 

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Zwei chuckled a bit at Dominique's compliments. "Thanks, I didn't think I'd do all that well in the tournament." He noticed that her gaze had turned towards the ring that he was wearing. He'd honestly forgotten about it, but he wasn't going to tell her that. "Yeah, it was a gift after all."