~*✿*☆♥Along Came A Spider♥☆*✿*~

Starting Appearance:

Fluttering in toward the docks, the Celestial Spider skimmed the surface of the water she flew above, trailing a couple fingers from  four of her six hands. Her glowing pink eyes searched the docks and ships ahead, picking out the shapes of  more than  few delectable looking mortals. She was sure any mortal who chose to brave the seas would have very nutritious dreams. But that's not why she was here, and why she made sure to finish off and release her last snack before flying out this way.

Aranea had more than her fill of enough energy to fend off the ravages of the mortal realm a few weeks more. She would not be tempted to prey on those she was about to meet. The spidery spirit pulled up and touched gently down at the end of the dock. She had no intention of hiding her nature or identity from the people she intended to find. If they were half as competent as the countless mages she had known and dealt with over the ages, they wouldn't fall for her little cover story the way your average non-wizard mortal usually did.

Shifted Appearance:

She phased into a more human appearance, lavender locks cascading far d own her back as blonde, the pink glow of her eyes receding to reveal a sparkling blue human gaze, purple skin faded to fair, and a deeper purple dress turned teal. A single silvery key that dangled from her hip was maybe the one thing that stayed true in appearance.

Aranea's Silver Key:

Aranea was tired of living  a life of mere survival, living from mortal's dreams to the next, and never knowing if she would find mortal before she simply faded away. THe fate of every Celestial Spirit who did not or could return home. That is, unless shat spirit found a way to cheat oblivion the way Aranea had. Mortals' dreams could very potent things, and in them Aranea found the energy she had need to keep living these past few decades. She wanted more than that, the Celestial Spider wanted to find a way home.

To do that she would have to atone, and the best way she could think to do that was to work with wizards again, the way she used to.  The spirit didn't necessarily need a contract to do that. Maybe..just maybe she could start on more even terms.  Things she'd heard about this WOTC made it sound like a good place to start.

The eagle-eyed spirit scanned her surroundings, and zoomed her vision in on a building and set of doors that looked most promising. The teenaged appearing  girl started up the docks, offering a practiced kind smile to any workers she happened to draw the attention of in passing. She kept her path as straight forawrd to the large white building her eagle vision had zeroed in on. Aranea glanced around at everything she passed along the way. It was nice a little stroll between the docks and her destination.

Finally arriving at the large whit building, Aranea wasted no time heading on in through its doors. As she took in her sights on the building's reception area, she called out, "Hello??"

It was a peaceful day at the West Fiore Trading Company as one of the vice presidents Sol was sitting on the roof of the company building taking a break and smokeing from his beloved Kiseru. All he could do was focus on what had happened recently with new recruits and his student Kyrans sudden departure which still had him rather angry. As he sat there and smoked he caught a glimpse of something approaching the docks and then landing. Sol actually had no knowledge of someone coming to visit and he felt it was a good idea to go down and check to make sure it wasent a threat.

Putting his Kiseru away Sol started to float off the ground as he watched her approach the building and as she opened the door he landed silently behind her. “I was unaware we were going to have visitors” he said before he glanced at her with his ruby slitted eyes.”I am Sol Terumi a Vice President of the West Fiore Trading Company what brings you here miss” he asked his tone was pleasant but the look in the eyes showed he was being cautiou as he looked at her waiting for an answer.

Looking around the reception area, she murmured to herself, "No Palace of the Celestial Spirit King...but not bad." She continued a couple steps further in when she felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. The celestial spirit knew this feeling well, it was usualy a feeling she got when the one being hunted..watched. Glancing back  over her shoulder to startled to see Sol closer than she had imagined. The girl startled, stumbling back a couple steps as she turned to face the silent dragon.

Brushing down her dress, she straightened herself back up, and stood with her chest proudly out"Do you always sneak up on people like that? Besides.. I thought you were on some kind of break up there on the roof.  When did you get down? Nevermind that's a dumb question around when wizards are around."

Aranea held the skirt of her dress out in a brief curtsy, "It's nice to meet you, Vice President Terumi. This... is usually where I'd tell you my name is Lucy Van Pelt, an aspiring celestial wizard. But I assume wizards today know more about celestial summoning than your average citizen, so I"ll just skip ahead a few steps. I'm Aranea, and I've come to join this West Fiore Trading Company."

The spirit didn't volunteer anything further, a little caution of her own seeming a prudent thing. She was used to facing wizards on her own turf, not on theirs. "This is quite the grand set up you all have here."

“”Sol said as he glanced at her, his eyes held caution in them as well as vast wisdom as he heard the woman explain that she was here to join, he shook off her way of addressing him since he didn’t care much of formality most of the time.”Just Sol will do and if your interested I can bring you in and test you to see your potential but be warned its not going to be easy” he said as he waited for her response.

As she mentioned that the building was rather grand the dragon nodded.” Indeed we want to look good but make no mistake we work hard for what we have its better to earn things that to just have then handed to you don’t you think?” he questioned as he saw a receptionist motion him forward. “excuse me for one second” he said before he went over to her and was given a card with some information on it before he went back to the spirit.”sorry about that I had a message waiting for me now if your wanting to join please follow me to the training grounds” he said as he motioned for her to follow him.” So do tell me more about yourself I saw you approach from the docks and from what I saw you looked a bit different” he said before he glanced back at her with his eyes being curious.

Aranea smiled and clasped her hands together excitedly. She nodded, ”Now we're talking.” The Celestial Spider followed to Sol's left, she glanced around as more of the interior revealed itself to her sparkling blue gaze. She giggled, “Heh, yeah. Hard work is often the only way to get what you need. Though I'd never be too proud to accept the gift of something I wanted, just because I didn't earn it. That's a silly notion and possibly an insult to the one who probably put in the hard work to give you such a gift.”[/color][/i]

The spirit waited patiently, taking in more of her surroundings while did, nodding when Sol returned from retrieving his message, ”Not a problem.” She continued to follow him toward the training grounds. Aranea briefly pondered if finding passage by one of those boats would have simplified her interview process, and safeguarded some of her secrets a little longer. She dismissed the idea, surely she'd have to explain this much about herself sooner or later.

As she continued to follow along, she carefully chose which bits to leave out until later, ”Oh..so I'm not the only one with excellent far vision. Then let me introduce myself more formally. I'm Aranea, the Celestial Spider. This silver key on my hip is mine, though it has been ages since I last had a contract with a wizard. What you saw was my true celestial spirit form. This is the human me, that I find makes traveling through mortal cities less... headache prone. I can phase back, if you don't think anyone will freak out having a little spider in the house.”

“yeah a gift is one thing but being given stuff just to try and get on ones good side is bad and I find it irritating to be around such suck ups” he said before he heard her explain that she was a celestial spirit and her real name was Aranea.”Hmm I would say keep it under wraps at first and perhaps gradually we can introduce it to the company.” He said before he remembered something he read about celestial spirits.”Wait how can you be here without a summoner if I recall being in the human world is supposed to be very hard on a spirit” he said looked at her his red eyes holding caution in them.
After a moment he shrugged then spoke.”I will be willing to bring you into the company but one thing you should know is that the people of this island and the company are not to be messed with the mainland is one thing but here we take care of each other is that understood?” he asked making sure she knew the boundrys here. He didn’t know how she was sustaining herself if she had no summoner but he had to be cautious.

The spirit frowns as she follows along. Admitting anything more was risky, but since these wizards possibly held the key to her possible return to the Celestial Spirit King's good graces, it was another risk she would have take. This was certainly not how she had survived all these decades. A Survivor's caution had only rewarded with mere survival, and no chance of returning home.

She breathed deep, "Very well, I'll introduce myself as Lucy to anyone else..unless you advise me otherwise. That's what's on my passport. It's true I don't have a summoner and have not had one for decades. I was Exiled for attacking my last summoner. Sadly the Celestial Spirit King so often takes the letter of the law over the welfare of his own subjects, It didn't matter it was in self-defense or that my summoner was a cruel and abusive monster compared to his mother. He regularly tortured myself and his other spirits because he could, when he began using the letter of the contracts he had inherited to draw more spirits under his sway by making us trick them into making one with him, I had no other choice."

She glanced down at her feet briefly before she continued, "Everything I'm telling you and going to be telling you is probably reason to not accept me, but I'm leveling with you, because I don't want there to be any surprises later. I'm tired of just surviving, and that's all I've been doing these past few decades. Mortal dreams are potent stuff, and have sustained me a few weeks at a time all these years.This spider is not sorry for the flies she's had to prey on to live. A spider has every much right as the fly to live, and my flies don't die when I've fed. They may forget who they are and lose their will... but they can recover their will and go on to live new lives."

She continued to follow as she made her case, "So I hope your not going to suggest I should have let myself fade away. I can assure you I have never hunted wizards. I don't have a death wish. And you can trust me to not go after the non-wizards on this island, because in order to get back in the King's good graces, I need to do something like start working with wizards again, and prove myself worthy of a second chance.. earn the trial I deserved but never got. I am tired of merely subsisting. I want to go home. To do that, I need your help, and I will do anything for this guild if you just give me a chance to get that help Like putting everyone in Talgalen and this guild off my menu. Friends and allies are not flies. So yeah you take care of me, and I'll take care of you and anyone else this guild calls friend."

Sol watched her with intense and focused eyes as the spirit explained that was exiled for attacking her last summoner but also explained the reason for it and it made the dragon king nod in understanding, it sounded like the boy had been a regular dark mage in the making. He had to admit that her reason for wanting to survive was not something he would think to shun her for, he understood her reasoning for wanting to live and hope to not fade away.”I understand and I do not wish for you to fade you are important and I am sure you will find your way back home, as long as you understand that the people on this island and this company are not food sources or prey we have no problem with you being here Aranea I will not push you away” he explained before he went on.

“however do know you will be watched closely for a while and not just by myself but  the other higher ups as well but should you show yourself trustworthy it should pass quickly. Now we will accept you” he said before he smirked revealing his razor sharp teeth but not to scare her.”Aranea we will nurture you train you and make you strong. We will protect you in a time of need and grant you aid when you need it heh by the time we are done Aranea your going to be replacing the Zodiac as the strongest spirits” he said trying to bolster her confidence. He then took a few steps away before he stretched his limbs.”Now let me show you the kind of power we wield here “ he said as he took a breath before his body was suddenly surrounded in shadow before it suddenly expanded and grew to colossal size before it suddenly vanished to reveal Sol in his full dragonic form his jet black scales in full display before he released a loud roar  and landed before her.” I do believe a proper introduction is due I am Sol Terumi Son of Ballom the Poison Dragon I am the Dragon King!” he declared as his full magic power was flaring and it could be easily felt as it drowned out anything else, it was rare for Sol to take such a form but he hoped it would show the spirit what she could obtain if she worked hard in the guild.

Aranea visibly relaxed when felt like the biggest part of her gamble in walking into the wizard's den, and openly admitting her predatory nature, and the tragic incidents that lead to it, had paid off. The spirit folded her arms over her chest, ”Much appreciated. Though I'd say trust goes both ways, and hope you realize how much I risked telling you all that. Wizards have never been on my menu. I do whatever it takes to survive, and that means not taking on mortals who often bigger monsters than they ever accused me of being.  It'd be suicidal to go after prey that's just as likely to prey on you. And don't worry about the rest of the mortals on this place. If surviving means learning to see certain mortals as more than prey again, then that's what I'll do.”

She smiled and laughed, sounding more like the teenaged human girl she appeared to be than  celestial arachnid. Relaxing a little more, she dropped her arms back at her sides, ”That sounds prudent... and that's the good news I've been waiting to hear. The spirit started at his razor sharp grin, ”Or maybe you understand me better than I would have thoughta wizard could with chompers like that.”

The celestial spirit smiled again, [”Maybe my key will turn from a silver one to platinum if manage to grow stronger than the Zodiac. That's something to shoot for. I'd like to see Virgo's face if I could pull that off. She was my neighbor in the night sky.”  Aranea giggled and grinned at that idea.

Her sparkling blue human eyes widened watching the boy in front of her grow and change into a ginormous jet black dragon.”You sure you haven't met the Celestial Spirit King?  I think you might like him. The side of him hat likes  to party I mean, not that side that cast me out of the Celestial Spirit Realm.”

She sighed softly, ”I believe the last time I was there personally was the last time I was able to pull anything  off like that.. Now the biggest spider I can form is barely bigger than a mortal pony. Mere survival is no good for maintaining your power. Also..so you're the one.. Pleasure to meet a legend.”

The spirit bowed, ”And a poison dragon...That should mean you have even less reason to worry over me.  I doubt my venom would work on you., but  before anyone else come along or I meet anyone else. Should I introduce myself as Aranea to the other higher ups and as Lucy Van Pelt to everyone else around here? Until it's safe to tell them everything else about me?”

Kyran ran through HQ looking for one of the VPs or Cirven himself. He was in trouble. He was in so much trouble. Even if Ada had told them about his little break from the company, he'd betrayed the trust that had been placed in him. Not only as a company member but as a member of Onyx Moon. His impromtu vacation had taken longer than expected too. Living with Gaia, the days had slipped away. Then meeting his sister - gah it had been little over a month since he left. He wouldn't blame them for a long well deserved punishment. Right after they all rescued his daughter. Unfortunately it couldn't be done by killing Gruen. Gruen was too much of a public figure for Onyx Moon to simply take out. It would bring the MC and the Rune Knights down upon every member. Not something anyone wanted. Claudia though... Kyran shook his head and got back to the task at hand.

Skidding around the corner, Kyran found himself facing Sol in dragon form. A young blonde stood in front of him. She seemed to be bowing to him. Ah she must be a new member. Excellent. The WFTC continued to grow. That made a warm feeling stir within Kyran's chest. His throat tightened as he opened his mouth to speak to Sol. What to say? What could he possibly say after how he'd left things? "Yo! You seem to be in good spirits, Sol. It's good to know the ol' boys can still have some fun!" Kyran called out. That was casual enough right? Maybe too casual, hostie. Erebos cackled in his ear. Ah well. It was too late to take the words back now. Instead, Kyran walked up to the young blonde. "You must be a new prospect. I wish I could say I was your senior but I'm sure the VPs will kick me back down to recruit now. I'm Kyran Dyer" He held out his hand to the girl. "Welcome to the West Fiore Trading Company."

The doctor felt heaviness in his feet, though not so much that he would dare to drag them. Than again the young looking old man would have to be incredibly tired to let that little pride he had to step aside. He had done some clinic work, but also research on other possible uses and affects the frost dragon fruit might have. The research had been interesting, but also dull and tedious. It was interesting and exciting to think about learning new things about such an old medically used item that had been out of others reach for so long. What was dull and tedious was all the things he had to actually do during the research. But he also wanted to do it so any tiredness from the work was the persons own self doing. At least it was a satisfying sort of tired? Yes, that was very fitting. What he didn't expect when walking back to the guild? To see sols dragon form. Despite working in the same hospital as the other, they never really spoke to each other much. There had been no real reason to in the past. At the same time, working in the same area for so long had made Omaras pretty comfortable with the others presence. He had known the man was the dragon kind, but it hadn't really fully clicked to some extent until now. A brief moment of fear flashed in his deep sapphire eyes, memories flashing in his mind. The only other large dragons he had seen before in the past had been family members. Giant white dragons that breathed out ice, snow, or a combination of the two. Ones that had whiter versions of his horns, even in their humanoid form.

It made the mixed blood uncomfortably self aware. The fear had been easily brushed away so fast and forced into ebbing away for a very simple reason, he fully trusted Sol. They had never really spoken about dragon things near Haraka either, so it was easy to ignore that part of the person. It was easy to ignore that part of all the dragon slayers he had met while being part of the guild. It was easier to ignore it and stuff things down than to deal with that big mess deep inside. In any case, it looked like there was a new person. Were they joining the guild, or were they a guest? Somehow it felt like he was interrupting something if he spoke out, but than he heard Kyran. It had been a long while since last seeing the red head, than again they didn't really interact with each other much anyway. Him speaking made the half demon feel a bit less self aware and worried about interrupting something. This was why the ice blue skinned man picked that time to walk the rest of the way over. "Hello, sorry I'm a little tired from work. I'm Haraka Omaras, sorry if I'm interrupting anything. I hope everyones days are doing alright so far." His voice was quiet and soft as always, though now with a bit of added meekness. It still felt a bit like interrupting a conversation!

Sol nodded to the spirit as she explained that he would not have to worry about anyone on the island being targeted, when asked if he had ever met the celestial spirit king the dragon simply shook his head, despite being so powerful he had not ever met the king of spirits then again he stay in a completely separate realm so it was to be expected. When she bowed he simply shook his head.”Please rise Aranea and for anyone who approaches you can introduce yourself as Lucy for now. Ill talk to the other higher ups as soon as I can” he explained before he heard another voice that instantly urked him.

He heard Kyran say he seemed in good spirits and that he could still have fun the dragon narrowed his eyes before he suddnely would snatch the younger man up and hold him in his claws not crushing him or harming him but it was clear that if sol wanted to he could crush the man in an instant.” You have a lot of explaining to do Kyran and even more if you want to keep learning under me” he snarled his mood going from happy to pissed in a fraction of a second.”Can you even begin to understand the chewing out I got from Cirven for what you did rest assured me and Cirven will be punshing you and I know Ada wants to kick your ass all over the training grounds” he growled. Sniffing the air and seeing Haraka approach Sol glanced down at him his burning red eyes looking at the him before speaking the question on his mind.”Haraka why do you smell of dragon its masked by your normal scent but it is there” he asked his mood soured greatly.

The young blonde mage smiled, excitedly clasping her hands together again after standing straight again. " Thank you, Sir. I'm in your debt."

She pushed her horned hairband more firmly in place as she turned to face the approaching figure of Kyran. She accepted and shook his hand. The disguised spirit smiled and waved to the other approaching figure of Haraka. "Hey, nice to meet you both! I'm Lucy.. Lucy Van Pelt. And yep! I'm a new recruit... brand new. And I don't think you're interrupting anything. I hope can you all out as much as I'm sure you are in just accepting me.. Er uh Sol, Sir .."


The girl's sparkling blue eyes widened when the Dragon King simply snatched Kyran so easily. She back up a step or two and fell quiet for a ew moments. She glanced over and edged toward Haraka. Lucy raised an uncertain hand, not wanting ot get between the Dragon King and Kyran"Not to be a bother, Sol... Sir, but does this I'm in? Or is there oath I need to swear or handshake I gotta learn?"


She paused a moment and glanced back to Haraka, "Wait...what? Dragon? Is everyone here secretly a dragon? I'd like to point out. I might be crunchy, but I'm so not tasty. even with what's it called? Ketchup? MM yeah that's it. Not even with ketchup."

Kyran laughed heartily at Sol's reaction. He wasn't scared of death and he sure wasn't scared of Sol. He probably should be since Sol was a dragon and all. However, after a lifetime of fear under his siblings, the emotion didn't seem to effect him the same way anymore. It took some effort to rearrange his features into a semi-contrite mask. "I do apologize, Sol. I have many... issues, trusting people with anything personal and with good reason. A personal matter came up some months ago and has been eating away at me every day since. I never learned how to turn to others for help. I never could before." Kyran took a deep breath, trying to find the right words. He was babbling, unable to say what he really wanted. "Ada already found me and destroyed my girlfriend's house in the fight we had. However, I'll gladly submit myself to any punishment the higher ups require of me on one condition." A fire lit inside Kyran's eyes. He stared directly into Sol's eyes, letting the dragon see his utter resolve and lack of fear. "The guild helps me rescue my daughter. She's the reason for everything."

Hearing Lucy's comment, Kyran smiled down at her. "Actually most of us are demons. Different palate and we like to play with our food first." He looked her up and down. "Even if you're little more than a snack" His tongue shot over his lips, unnaturally long and black. A hint of mischief sparkled in his eyes but it was the only indication of his joke. Once he felt he had waited long enough, Kyran chuckled softly. "I'm only joking. Nobody here is going to eat you."

The last thing Haraka expected was to see was Sol scoop up Kyran as quickly and easily as a child grasping a skipping stone. Well, whatever happened had nothing to do with the dragon. He was only a co worker with both people, but basically spent no time with sol outside of work and had spent almost no time near the red head as a whole. Whatever the two had going was none of his business, no matter how curious they might be. It was hard not to be when it sounded a lot like a certain person had left the guild, or had done something reckless, and had already paid for it. Even Kyrans girlfriend paid probably? Goodness, he had been listening far more than he should have. How shameful!
What the man didn't expect? To have some of the sourness unfurling from the king of dragons get aimed in his direction. What should he say? Why did he smell of dragon under everything? This was a question that made Omaras more uncomfortable, as did the commentary of people getting eaten. He didn't want to talk about any of this. He wanted to tell Sol to read through a history book to find out why the smell was there, but he knew better than to say something like that to someone who was already upset. Sure, the answer technically could be found in books, but it was faster and better to just ask the person.

So he had to say something. What could he say? It was likely just better to go with the truth, though at this point the mixed blood looked all sorts of shades of uncomfortable. "That's why I used an ice dragon slayer lacrima as one of the ingredients to mend my soul." Now the new person. He waved at the girl, though the uncomfortable expression on his face and slight fidgeting uncomfortable body language was still on the man. He hated the joking about eating people. It may have been thousands of years ago, but it didn't make that any less uncomfortable for him. Why? A number of reasons. There was not just one incident of people getting eaten in his young life, just...
only one where the people eaten were the people he loved and treasured the most. At least Kyran cleared that up, though that did not clear away all the mans discomfort. At least it cleared up a bit of it? "I'm half of a demon version of a giant deep sea mantis shrimp and half ice dragon. My diet is mostly meat free because the edible plants I'm bonded with like it when I use them in meals." Talking about food, did he have anything to offer the newcomer? Well asking if Haraka had food with him right after getting off work was akin to asking if a cat likes fish. Of course he had food with him, it was easier to have food made before work rather than to make it afterwards.

He tugged at a large white bag on his person, opening it up a little. The slightly brown colored steamed bread buns had cinnamon in the dough with a chopped, seasoned and baked apple filling. There was a little orange and lemon that had been used in the baking, but only because it would help give it a cider like zing. The white buns with tiny black spots had been filled with dragon fruit, the spots on the steamed bread being from dragon fruit seeds. Each bun in general seemed to have a clue on the steamed buns outer layer on what it's filling would be, besides the ones with a vegetable curry or the ones with the vegetable stew filling. Why buns? They were just easy to make and carry around without risk of anything spilling. The man gave her a wave before walking closer. After that he grabbed an apple cinnamon one, holding it out to the young looking blond girl. His voice was as gentle, quiet, and soft as ever. "Here's a small welcome gift."

Sol growled at Kyrans reaction his anger still present.”even if you had issues you could have handled leaving better, honestly getting drunk and acting like a jackass infront of potential recruits is not how we do things” he said as he dropped the young man roughly.”Ill talk to the higher ups about your daughters rescue for now I suggest you behave” he growled before he addressed the joke that the boy had said to the newcomer.”We do no eat people here nor are we all demons or Dragons. However we have many different types of people here so it is a mixed bag of races. You will fit in well here” he explained.

As Haraka explained that he was half dragon and half demon mantis shrimp and that he needed a dragon lacrima to mend his soul. "‘I see we can talk about that later” he said as he heard Aranea ask if she was in or if she had a secret handshake she had to learn, Sol thought for a moment.”I will be giving you a test since we do that to all new recruits." he explained as he shifted back into his normal childlike form

Aranea smiled with some genuine relief to Kyran, "Good. For a minute I thought I'd agreed to a rather one-sided promise." The young girl oddly enough to did not sound like she was joking, nor did she elaborate one what promise she was referring to.

She happily took the offered apple-cinnamon bun As a celestial spirit, she ate mortal food more for the pleasure of it than nutritional value. Baked goods, especially of the apple-cinnamon variety she believed to be among the greater of mortal culinary achievements. Taking a pair of big chomps, she  began to eat the treat then and there. "Thanks! Apple and cinnamon happens to be one of my favorite"

Taking another bite, she turned back to Sol, very pointedly not having said a thing while the Dragon King held Kyran aloft. It wasn't exactly her place to comment on the discipline of a potentially wayward guildmate. More importantly, she did not wish to give them even the slightest reason to reconsider taking her in. Her options for her road to redemption in the Celestial Spirit King's eyes were limited, and she had no intention of blowing her best, possible shot.

If she was gonna fit in, she might have to start thinking of herself as her alter-ego Lucy, not just as an alias. On that thought... Lucy sighed, "Man. I knew that was too easy. May be I shoulda kept my mouth shut. Mm alright. what kind of test?" The blonde wizard stuffed the last of the apple-cinnamon bun into her mouth, briefly poofing out her left cheek to smoosh the whole last two or three bites in at once.

Kyran kept his mouth shut about how he'd left the guild. Considering he'd been drunk nearly 24/7 for at least a week straight before leaving, the details were a little fuzzy. He clearly hadn't done it in a professional manner. Sol's sudden release didn't quite take the red head by surprise. Kyran had expected some sort of petty retribution. He landed smoothly on his feet but only thanks to Medea's intervention. The cat demon didn't say a word. She seemed cowed by the presence of the Dragon King. Kyran doubted it would last. He bowed to Sol. "Thank you. I apologize for any distress I caused." He decided it was best to mention behaving was not a guarantee. There were four demons in his head and an angel. Any of them could take over and drive his body for a while.

The redhead turned to the new recruit. He got the sense she might not be joking with her statement. It was hard to tell. "They're not quite fun, are they? One sided agreements tend to suck the life out of one's soul." Painful memories stirred deep inside his chest. There had been many one sided agreements Kyran had made. Some he hadn't recognized as such until it was far too late. He rubbed the scars on his wrists.

Kyran looked up at the mention of the test. He remembered his own. However every opportunity to see another had been interrupted. A small chuckled rippled out from him in response to Lucy's words. "Keeping your mouth shut may have made the test harder. Better to have mentioned it before you end up with multiple proctors." He wasn't sure if the test worked that way or not but Kyran didn't see any reason to dismiss the possibility. "I'm sure you'll do fine. All you generally have to do is prove your mettle."

Talking about health related issues was fine with the mixed blood, up until they are his own. How does he avoid it without rubbing the dragon the wrong way? Honesty without argument perhaps? But talk about it later definitely meant not now. Maybe he just didn't realize he had repaired it? It wasn't something the ice blue skinned person had exactly ever announced. There was no reason to, nor was there anyone close enough to notice or take interest in his physical changes. "We can still talk later if you want, but I healed it months ago." Even if it wasn't something his mother would have liked or agreed with in life. Sure, he had told Sol before about the soul issue and why he hadn't mended it before, but it would be strange to expect them to remember. If they did remember, would it really matter in the end if he had changed since then? But it was at least a lot easier to think with the vice president going back to a smaller size that didn't include a mouth that looked like it could swallow a person whole. Well, on to another topic!

He smiled at the blind girl, looking at her again now. "You're welcome. I'm more than willing to make you treats if you ever want to try more." He considered almost every guild member fully welcome to his kitchen. It was one of the places he felt most safe in. Ah, what kind of test? It seemed like Kyran had said some things, but not any big details. What were tests like? From what he had seen so far, most were battle related. His own hadn't been fight related at all though, so he knew not all tests were the same. Should he comment on it? No, because the vice president was right here. He was the one who would decide, so speculating seemed a bit silly to Haraka at this point. "Whatever Sol decides on to test you, I'm sure you'll do well." He didn't know what she was, so the half demon thought of himself as encouraging a young girl.

Watching and listening to more between Kyran and Sol though made the man so very glad he had missed whatever chaos that had gone on. While still being silent on the topic, the half ice dragon let out a sigh, shaking his head. 'It was a good thing I missed all of that chaos... Whatever is or was going on.'

Sol just shook his head at Kyran showing he would deal with him later before he turned to Aranea and suddenly a wide sharp toothed grin appeared on the dragons face that threated to split it in two before suddenly the whole room went dark and when the veil of shadows had lifted Sol was behind her and two dark robed guards were before her with swords and shields guarding two doors. To the side Haraka and Kyran would be able to observe.”Now I don’t desire to test your strength but lets see how clever you can be. Also you two are to remain silent during this test you try to help and you will be punished”he said turning his attention to the two observers.

“Now Lucy the test is simple enough before you is two doors and two guards one door leads to safety and the other to death you may ask one guard a question to gain insight into what door to take” he said though then he grinned again.”however one guard always tells the truth and the other always lies which one is which I will not tell” he said as he turned to observe as well wondering how she would handle such a task.

The blonde spirit tilted her head, trying to work out how she got turned around. Took her a moment to realize she hadn't been, the others or at least Sol had moved around her instead. She looked over the two guards, and over to both Kyran and Haraka. She wondered if they all consider it cheating that she'd know whether one of the guards was lying simply by looking at him.

Lucy rubbed her chin, deciding honesty and explaining how she could solve this little riddle without her mystical gaze would negate any accusations of cheating. She walked back and forth in front of the guards, finally stopping in front of the one on her left. "Keep in mind, I can tell if you're lying, but if I couldn't, I'd ask you which door would the guard say leads out?"

After wating for the guard's answer, her gaze already telling her if he was lying, she continued, "Thank you and no matter which one you point to, I choose the opposite one because if I ask the lying guard, he would lie and point to the door that leads to death. You ask the truthful guard and he would point to the door that leads to death.. So no matter what, the safe door is the one that isn't pointed to."

Kyran sat back on his heels to watch the testing of the newbie. Besides his own, the redhead couldn't remember a single testing that he'd seen. He always left before the trials themselves began. Now was a chance to see one. He was surprised that this one wasn't physical as his had been. There were clearly different ways of testing applicants. Of course, Kyran had been slightly stronger than the average applicant. Not that it was his fault. Ada had thrown him on a boat with no choice but to join the guild. His lips spread in a smile at the memory. Hopefully this would become something Lucy could look back on and smile about.

It seemed the one time Haraka was going to try to leave instead of watching an exam, he was stuck watching regardless. What was there to say? Nothing, as the current test was one of intelligence it seemed. The mixed blood had seen a few tests already. Most he had seen were physical, but he knew that there were non combat tests already. His own test hadn't been on combat after all, even if it gave a perfect example of just how inexperienced he had been with magic a the time. How had he even grown so fast in such a short amount of time? The guild, it was definitely that. Silence was secured in the form of filling reaching into a certain well sized white bag. Now seemed like a good time to start eating the snacks that had been meant to keep him steady on the walk home and while cooking. Was her answer the right one? Only one person knew that for sure and it wasn't Omaras.

The guards blinked at each other before the one she asked pointed to the gate behind him and as the two vanished as well as the area around them as the training ground reappeared around them.”Well Done Lucy you got it right and faster then I expected your now a member of the company” he complimented as he pulled out a guild mark stamp from a shadow portal and he smiled a bit”now where would you like to have your guildmark?” he asked wondering where she would want the mark. Looking over at Kyran and Haraka he was pleased that they hadn’t tried to help Lucy since it was her test and to have a advantage would not do.

“Kyran Haraka I appricate your silence on the test, she did extremely well and I hope you two look forward to working with her. Speaking of which Kyran we need to train soon I need to work on your weaknesses and get you into shape” he said smirking at Kyran knowing that his student was not scared of him but that didn’t stop the dragon from working him to the bone to make him stronger.

Aranea shook her fists and bounced in brief celebration, choosing to believe that her explanation is what sealed it. "I may or may not have served guard duty ina sitaution like that witha geas on me to ensure I couldn't lie. I was glad when that was over."

She took a breath to settle back into the mindset of Lucy... She smiled and rolled up left short sleeve of her minty green-blue dress to bare her left upper arm.
"Right here, and if I get to choose any of the colors for it, I choose pale lavender."