Party at the golden castle. [Open to all Aurora members}

Hall:

Luna's appearance:

Lunaris "Luna" Mira, Guild Master, she was still trying to say that without it sounding strange. She was still a teenager but held an important status as master of the legalized guild Aurora. She knew she needed to get used to it, but she had guessed that it would be a matter of time to accept. While she often left Aviole Fortress at night to go home to her apartment in Timbermere, she did spent most of her time up at golden castle during the day, but outside of brief encounters she did not get to see many of the guild members interacting. She figured that everyone was just sick of seeing each other after jobs. But when she was preparing her report for the Magic Council she looked through the logs only to see that very few members of the guild went on jobs together.  

She figured this was her problem to solve, and she decided the best solution was to simply get everyone to mingle. She set out notice a few days before, and conferred with her summons Tierra, Vita, and Woody. She had Tiera and Vita assist her in one of the kitchens for most of the day until she switched out Vita for Woody who brought along Phil to help set up in the grand hall. Exploring the grand castle Luna had found many rooms, but this one was perfect as it seemed to be between two levels, and connected to a wonderful balcony outside. Aside from the mess hall and the throne room, this was one of the largest rooms found so far. Tierra had breathed life back into the planters and replaced the light lacrimas.

Meanwhile her summons kicked out Luna halfway through the preparations so she could get ready, as she spent the remainder of the morning in her private chambers. While her bed gets little use, she does keep spare clothes at the castle. She changed out of her normal attire for an elegant red kimono she had. However she left her Lightning Dragon Eye behind in her quarters, only wearing the key of Scorpio on a thin gold chain necklace for jewelry.

Anxious about the progress, the Nature Fairy returned to the scene to see how the princess and the wooden men progressed, only to be stunned by their progress, and that Woody wasn't passed out drunk after drinking all the booze. She started to have faith in this little social gathering after seeing the progress. "Wow! you three are incredible! Thank you!" The exhausted spirits nodded as they disappeared into green specs of light that faded away. She knew she had to thank them somehow. She made sure to send another message via iLac just to be sure. "Well, now it's just a matter of time."

Upon entering the room, Sarah felt a little underdressed. This feeling was reinforced once she saw Luna. "Hey, this place looks great. I'm starting to think I should have worn a suit. But, it's difficult to find one in my size. It's not like your average tailor can just magically make one fit." She wasn't sure what else to say, but she was glad to not be wearing a suit. She found them oppressive, and constricting, as they heavily limited her range of movement. However, she was glad to see Luna in a kimono. Once she noticed the food, and the fact that the only guild members present were Luna and herself, Sarah posed a question. "Did you do all this?"

Appearance:

Shane walked down the hall, a very unfamiliar area to him. Despite staying in the Aurora guild headquarters, he was mostly just moving between the mess hall where he had his meals and sat around with a book, the job room and his own room. The light tapping on the marble floors, rapidly approaching the grand hall where Luna had arranged a dinner for the members to have a get-together and ice-breaking.

He had just returned from Serene Cliff, the day before. He hadn't met anyone in the guild since then. In fact, when he left, he had just left a message for Luna in the job room's desk, informing that he was going to take break until further notice, not knowing when he would have returned or if he would even be able to return.

Taking a long stride into the room, Shane was struck with amazement by the decoration done. It was a five-star experience, the venue and the food. And he was glad he had dressed for the occasion. Dressed in a navy blue suit that stood out sharply against his silvery-grey hair, the Sky Demon Slayer walked up to the guild master he saw sitting to one side of the room, being approached by a young girl.

"Hi Luna. Was this hall always this fancy or did you do something with it? I don't think I have even stepped in here before," Shane said, hoping that his new appearance wasn't going to be shocking.

Luna thought it was quick that members of her guild had shown up, after all considering the lack of guild members attendance at certain events her expectations were incredibly lowered after constantly being the only one for a while. She picked up glass of wine as she was approached by the two members of her guild. She made a mental note to introduce Sara to her tailor later after the remark about clothing. "Well, I can see someone of your, figure requiring a bit of clothing alterations."

After being asked the questions of the preparations and the room, she could tell that her guild members were impressed by the efforts put into preparing this little event. "Well Sara, I had help. I asked the spirits I am bound with from the 'Forest Beyond the Horizon' to help me out." However the subject of the decor of the room was a tricky topic to explain. "Well, the room just needed the Lacrimas replaced and some new plants, but otherwise. Plus it just needed a little dusting."

She gave the Sky Demon Slayer a stare up and down as she was amazed by how well he cleaned up. "Look at you though, you know this isn't a formal dress code but you look nice!" She then noticed an opportunity to do what she intended for, trying to get her guild members to know each other. She would grab Sarah by the elbow and slowly nudge her into Shane's sight. "Oh, Shane, this is Sarah, one of the guilds newest members. Sarah, this is Shane, one of the guild's most promising wizards. I don't think you've met before if I am not mistaken."

Sarah enjoyed the attention that Luna gave her before the clothing comment. She blushed before responding. "Well, I probably couldn't pull off such an amazing outfit as yours anyway." Sarah was about to ask Luna to extend her compliments to the spirits that she had mentioned, before Luna introduced her to Shane. "Hi, Sarah Stone. I'm pleased to meet you, and I hope to work with you soon." Sarah rubbed the back of her neck, a little nervous about the forced introduction. "So, Luna, this room didn't seem to be part of the tour. Do you think you could show us around?" Saying this, while it was true, was mostly just a way for Sarah to buy time, and recompose herself, as she eagerly awaited a response from her guild leader.

"I think I should be doing some exploring of this castle soon," Shane commented in response to Luna's reply about what she had done to spruce up the place. "I still remember you mentioning that we've only barely touched 10% of the place?"

In fact, Shane had always put it in the back of his mind to venture into the deepest part of the castle. So far, he hadn't seen anything or heard anything that would imply that there was something lurking within, but a castle as big remaining unexplored was dangerous. Even more so, for the more curious new members. Not to say that he wasn't one of them. Shane made a dry laugh mentally as he thought about it.

"Yea... I figured trudging in in my mercenary-ish look wasn't really the best way to be approachable," Shane replied with a laugh, as he looked down at what he was wearing. It would be hell if he had to fight in this thing.

"I'm Shane, Shane Stern. Glad to meet you as well. I'm always out on jobs, so I don't really get the chance our new recruits," Shane said with a smile on his face. On the topic of a joint job, "Sure, I'm always open to doing something. I live here basically, and most of the time I'm in the mess hall. If not, you can just knock on my door. It's the second one on the right down the hall in the boys' section."

"You girls go enjoy your tour, I will need to get a drink first," he remarked with a wide grin, making his way towards a long table to the side of the room, already squinting to see what choices he had. From afar, there seemed to be plenty.

Bringing up a tour, Luna instantly picked up on the obvious ditch to get away. She did not however want to be rude so she tried to answer Shane's inquiry. The castle was large and although she herself did not explore that much, the amount explore hasn't changed all that much. "Yeah, I tried to go a floor higher but the door was jammed, the castle tried to open the door, but she didn't fair any better then I did. She led Sara towards the door as she noted Shane going for a drink. She figured that talking to Sara would be best in a place for a brief moment could help, and keeping with all stereotypes she led Sara to the ladies room.

The golden and luxurious bathroom seemed like it was for the absolute wealthiest, Luna really didn't like all the gold everywhere as it was really not her style. It was too flashy but not the relevant point. Luna knew she had to be the bigger woman in at least one regard. "Sarah, you doing okay? Sorry if I pushed you too hard. I am trying to get members more social and meeting others, if it gets too much no one holds it against you if you need to get some air."

Luna would let go gently of the girl's hands, she wanted to support the woman in every way she can, but she had more than one bird under her wings as she was a guild master. She also made the party a much wider invitation. She lightly squeezed Sarah's hands, making sure her gently eyes were looking right into Sarah's. "Look, I am here for you, but I made the party an open invite. A fair bunch of the other guild members are children, some of which have far worse anxiety than you. Kids who lost a lot, and with Shane not popularly known I have to make sure things don't get out of hand."

Luna gently let go of the girl's hands before she picked up her wine glass and started to walk away, stopping only before she made it out the door. "Shane is not that bad a guy once you get to know him though. Don't push yourself" Luna then proceeded to leave the bathroom and returned to the hall room, looking around, seeing if anyone new had shown up. She walked back to Shane as she hated trying to interfere. "Shane, you know, I can't be den mother full time. You know people take time. I can't just be the only one people turn to."

Sarah followed Luna out, and sat at the bar, ordering some shots for herself.

"Luna, I appreciate all the effort, and you being kind enough to pull me aside earlier, but I'm not afraid of who I am. So, just in case you didn't pick up on this, allow me to state it openly. Please, if you're going to try to set me up with someone in the future, could you make sure it isn't a guy?"

Sarah was embarrassed that she had to say this, but it felt like Luna was trying to push her off on Shane, and she didn't exactly like the idea.

"No offense, Shane. I'm sure you're great, just not my type."

She slammed her first round of shots, and ordered a few more.

Shane had finally made his choice, zeroing down his whisky choices to either Darkflame or Three Monkeys. His index finger swayed between the two until finally he stopped it, choosing Three Monkeys in the end. Carefully pouring out a generous amount into his glass, the male mage had just added a little water and dropped four cubes of ice into the mix when he was approached out of nowhere. Turning around as he took a sip from his mouth, Shane allowed himself to taste the whisky before letting it slide down his throat. And only then did he reply Luna. He was buying time actually.

“Luna, you know I would never reject anyone if they wanted to come to me for advice or just to chat. But it’s this maternal thing you have,” Shane said, pausing as he hesitated. He let out a sigh and lowering his gaze so that he was looking at the glass in his hand. A few seconds of silence passed, and Shane held his eyes back to Luna’s.

“My enemies are calling me Scarecrow, Luna. Because of the scar,” Shane said with a low voice. “If it were me, I would also rather run to the lady who’s the guild master and a mother to a mermaid than to go to the scary man with grey hair, a scar down his face and a red eye.”

He had averted his gaze from Luna’s when he was mid-sentence, returning to look back at her with the end of the sentence. On his face was an I’m-sorry smile.

But that wasn’t the end of it. Before the situation could get any more awkward between Shane and Luna, Sarah had popped into the conversation, raising the level of awkwardness in the small circle of people through the roof. Shane’s apologetic smile instantly broke in a full-on laugh.

“Okay, Sarah. Let’s get this straight. We’re happy,” Shane gestured to himself and Luna, “that you are coming out.” Then he held up hands up in front of him, palms out. “And I think you misunderstood Luna’s intention.”

And he began to laugh out loud, trying to hold his liquor steady at the same time.

Hearing out Shane, Luna could've guessed those words were gonna come out of his mouth. Luna knew that Shane wasn't the most welcoming or friendly face in the guild, which as he reminded her she was that one, but she was hoping for a little leniency. Shane seemed to be the type to call if the guild was ever attacked or taking on a large scale job. However she did decide that it would be best to level the field and admit a few things to Shane just to make it seem like there is no right role model. "I'm not always treated with good reception, some parents think I am a disgrace for taking care of Neptuna as I have plus I've had some dark moments myself, I nearly killed a man in a public market once in Magnolia, but no one faulted me either way considering the man was selling products made from fairy wings."

However when Sarah returned, Luna felt incredibly embarrassed as Sarah mentioned Luna's so called attempt to fix her up with Shane, and she quickly finished her glass of wine before she got back to the matter at hand. "Well, Sarah, I think you misunderstand, this isn't a swingers part-"

Before Luna could finish she heard the familiar voice of her adopted daughter come calling out as she ran into the room towards Luna hugging her. "Mommy!" Neptuna was in her human like form wearing a simple white dress and sandals, internally Luna was thinking that this situation could not plausibly get worse. Luna embraced the young mermaid for a moment with one arm before she handed her glass to Neptuna. "Neptuna honey, could you refill mommy's glass?"

The mermaid nodded before walking to a table just out of earshot. "Last time I have Solaris babysit, she's probably hooking up with a merman... Anyways, Sarah, you misinterpret. You see, very few guild members know each other, and I can't take all the stress of being the center of attention. So I am trying to get guild members to meet eachother, platonic, then anything else is not my business. Also hon, I am a single mother with six cats at home and trying to put my sister through school, if I had anyone to set up, don't you think I'd take the man for myself?"

Neptuna ran back over handing Luna a glass of red wine, Luna pat the girl on the head before Neptuna realized Sarah and Shane were standing there, and immediately hid behind Luna nervously. "Speaking of whom, this is my adopted daughter, Neptuna. She's shy around you humans, worse when it comes to demon slayers, forgive her shyness."