The First Fairy Step

Nessa was making her way down through the guild's elevators. She was feeling a little melancholy at the moment. She had recently gotten a letter from Mythal informing her that he was disappearing and not to look for him. It had been heart-wrenching, leaving her in floods of tears. Of course, she hadn't listened, she had summoned her Starlight immediately to go find him. Only, it didn't work. the light would not move, meaning that he wasn't in this world anymore. He wasn't dead, he couldn't be. Wherever he had gone was just out of her reached. She had tried reaching out to Serilda but she didn't have any connections in Sabertooth, so at this point she hadn't gotten anything back. She could only imagine that she too was hunting endlessly for him. Alas, Nessa had to try and balance searching for him with managing her guild work. She hadn't spoken to Sorano about the matter yet, but she was considering taking some time off to search for him properly. He may not have been her mentee anymore, but that didn't mean she didn't care about him. Mythal was like a brother to her at this point.

As the elevator doors open, she stepped out, she was feeling tired. She had hardly slept these past few days, and tea wasn't going to cut it. She headed over to the bar and ordered a coffee with plenty of sugar and milk. She wasn't really a coffee person, but she was exhausted and drained at this point. She heard the guild door open and turned her head. She spotted the red-headed girl, she was around the same age as her, probably around a similar height to. She heard her remark and smiled. She was an ace after all, she pushed away from the bar, before approaching the girl.

"Hey there, I'm Nessa. I'm one of the Aces here, I'd be happy to help you out. What's your name?" She asked in a friendly tone.

WC: 333

The girl would introduce herself as Ilda, it was a polite response, Nessa nodded making sure to remember it. The girl continued on asking about the guild's nature itself, Nessa smiled in response. "I'd be happy to fill you in, I actually have a coffee on order, would you like a drink or something to eat? I can have the bar bring something over, in the meantime, let's take a seat." She said, moving over to a nearby table, the bar staff came over with her coffee, for which she thanked them. As they placed the sugar bowl in front of her, Nessa was quick to scoop three heaped spoonful's into her coffee and stir them in. She needed to get her head on properly, despite everything that was going on, she was still an Ace of Fairy Tail. It was her duty to help the guild function, although as she stirred her tea she wandered if it might be worth contacting Markus. Maybe later, right now there was a girl here with a guild related question. She looked up at her, still holding that smile.

"Much like all guilds Fairy Tail is a faction for mages where they can join in hopes of gaining access to jobs and develop connections. Our guild in particular, has a key focus on building relationships with clients and offer our skills as a service to the public. Whether those skills are combat focused or a little more ambiguous in nature doesn't really matter. We at Fairy Tail are big on community, and aiding society in any way we can. We're quite a close knit group and often will have to work together to handle such matters, but needless to say, there's always someone willing to chip in should anyone need a hand." She explained, hoping that her words were enough to convince Ilda Fairy Tail was worth joining.

"If you're still interested, I can initiate you right now, however I need to go through some questions with you, if that's alright?" the girl didn't seem particular threatening, but then again you never knew. When Nessa first joined the guild she hadn't really been that aware of the darkness that lurked out there, or of the sinister nature of people. Although she was willing to give everyone a chance, as an Ace she was obliged to protect her guild from anyone who would attempt to deceive them.

WC: 404 Nessa's Total: 737

The girls reply to her information was pleasant, to Nessa it reflected that of someone with a good nature. She could see any malice in the girl, not did she come across as though she was lying. Then again, Nessa wasn't the best at reading people,  but at the very least she was trying to notice. Unlike before when she would have just blindly trusted anyone, it was weird how growing as a mage just made you a little more cautious about those you allowed into your lives. Nessa blew on her coffee, attempting to cool it down a little before she drank it whilst listening to the girls words. To hear the girl had pretty much decided to join the guild cause Nessa to beam happily. She was pleased, however the girls following comment made her wonder. although the girl wasn't giving too much away, the words spoken themselves seemed to have a certain meaning behind them. Then again, Nessa wasn't going to pry into the girls life. It didn't matter.

"Of course, the initiation is a really simple, once I've asked my questions. As long as I'm satisfied that we as a guild can trust you, then it's just a matter of stamping you with our guild mark." She explained, she understood why she would ask. Nessa had speculated all sorts of wild ideas about having to fight a dragon in order to pass into the Fairy Tail guild. But, it really wasn't that complicated. Fairy Tail was an accepting place, who opened their arms to all. Unless you were clearly intending on harming the guild or it's members, everyone deserved a chance. At least, that was how Nessa felt. Nessa heard someone approach and recognised her best girl friend in the girl. She grinned as she approached, listening as she greeted her before talking to Ilda. "Ilda, this here is Arcadia, she also one the Aces here at Fairy Tail and one of our strongest members." Nessa said introducing the little Dragon Slayer. She looked back at the red head, before moving on to her last question.

"There are only two questions: What is your purpose for joining? Would you ever intentionally harm your guildmembers or guild property with the permission of the guild itself?"

WC: 379 Nessa's Total: 1116

Nessa remained quiet as she listened to Ilda's answers. Her purpose was understandable enough, it sounded like the girl wanted somewhere to belong. Nessa couldn't empathise with that, a few years before joining Fairy Tail. She too had felt completely lost and unsure of what to do with her self, a personal conflict between her and her ex had resulted in all of her friends had abandoning her. She had lost all will to do anything, until something changed. She saw a scuffle in a street, a vagrant was threatening the people in the market for jewels, threatening to blast them with his magic. Nessa was wanted to run in, but she had her little cousin with her. She couldn't risk getting into danger when he was there, on top of which that was a point in her life she had no control over her magic whatsoever. She had barely used it more than a handful of times.

Which is why she felt so inspired when the Fairy Tail mages turned out, handling the situations with ease. She watched as they easy beat the vagrant, restrained him and escorted him away without any consequence to the public. From then on she had wanted to be a mage, she had gone home, and asked her family to train her. It was the reason she was here now, the reason she had come so far. Fairy Tail wasn't just a place to work, it was a way of life. The last sentence the girl said struck a cord with her, 'monster'. Nessa sipped her coffee, she knew that feeling too. She was still dwelling with the darkness inside of her, this thing that seemed to grow in strength alongside her. She would hope to face it one day but, she needed to figure out how. Who could she go to? Besides, she couldn't deal with anything so grand until she got Mythal back.

The girl continued to answer Nessa's latter questions, the ones important for judging whether she was worth joining. Ilda confirmed she would not intentionally harm her guild members, which is why she used her gloves as a preventative measure of containing herself. When she finished Nessa nodded, lowering her coffee to the table.

"I appreciate your honesty." She said, she looked around spotting a nearby wisp floating by. Which although she could see, to those without stamp would look like blobs of light. "Can you bring me the tools?" She asked, moments later the wisp returned, carrying an old block of unidentifiable material. "Where would you like your guild mark?" Wherever Ilda showed her where to stamp, Nessa would press the block against that area of skin. When the material pressed against the girl, Nessa would initiate the spell designed to mark them. Tracing the markings around the block for the imprinting, they would glow with light, a circle would light up and underneath would appear the Fairy Tail symbol. After recieving the guildmark, Ilda would feel a tingling sensation from it, moving throughout her body. Just as Nessa had when she received her guild mark. The blobs of light that floated around the guild would transform into Fairies, that were fluttering around the guild helping things operate. Carrying food and handling paperwork. Nessa offered the girl a warm smile, "Welcome to Fairy Tail, I look forward to working with you Ilda."

WC: 565 Nessa's Total: 1681

Ilda questions about the rules regarding showing her guildmark was answered by Arcadia, Nessa smiled at her. Nodding in acknowledgement, "Yeah, my guild mark is on my thigh, so people rarely see it." She told the newest member of Fairy Tail. Nessa picked up her coffee and brought it to her lips. She was feeling slightly more awake now. Now that she had helped initiate Ilda, she really needed to refocus. The thought of Mythal wandered back into her mind, and with it the anxiousness of the letter. She looked away, wondering what to do. It was already tormenting her so much, she didn't want to sacrifice her time at the guild if she had to, but it was her family. As was Mythal, she just had to do something.

Thus, she didn't really have time to chat, "Sorry ladies, I need to excuse myself. If you ever need help with anything Ilda feel free to get in touch okay"? She said with a small smile. Although the warmth of the smile not reaching her violet eyes.  "See you around." She said with a small wave to both of the young girls. She picked up her coffee cup, it had only been half-drained but she had had enough. She couldn't wait around much longer. She fully intended to do her best to get in touch with Markus or Serilda, because hopefully either one of them would know something about what was actually going on. She hoped dearly that whatever Mythal was enduring right now wasn't too painful, that either they would find him or he would return to them in good health with as little harm done as possible. Maybe, everything would be just fine. She had to hope, because, without it, she would undoubtedly shatter right then and there. She placed the cup on the bar and made her way towards the exit of the guild hall.


WC: 320 Nessa's Total: 2001
Handed in as 1x C rank freeform and 1x D Rank freeform
1500/1500
500/500
1 word excess