To Hopes and Dreams! [Taylor's Intro]

Today was one of those days when pressure wasn’t felt as heavy on the shaman as usual. Certain huge requests had been completed, so Mura could focus more on his paperwork waiting for him back at the office in the guild hall of Fairy Tail. It wasn’t exactly something that he looked forward to, but he did look forward to returning back home to Magnolia Town. The usual greetings would meet him on the streets as many, if not all people knew who he was in this landmark. There was something soothing and magical about Magnolia Town itself, excluding the entire presence of Fairy Tail for a brief moment as Mura took a deep breath and embraced the atmosphere.

This all occurred much earlier today. After returning to his office, he renewed the guild’s documents on each member and… well, half an hour of sleeping, and he was suddenly driven to go outside and check the town out to see if he missed out on anything. Magnolia Town was the seedbed for Fairy Tail, and after having lived here for over 10 years, Mura couldn’t imagine living anywhere else. May the heavens forbid another separation between his guild and this blessed town.

Therefore, due to his growing love for the town, he darted out immediately and ventured across roofs and poles while having a list of requests from resident civilians. A list of duties that could be described as ‘community service’ was now running through his head as various clients were in need of help with everyday troubles as well as favors to want:

- Someone’s cat was missing. Mura found it in the Kardia Cathedral messing with tools at the top of the bell tower, and its presence scared the crap out of the resident ghost who rang the bell on a daily basis.
- It was a certain, small boy’s birthday, and the boy’s parents wanted a Fairy Tail Wizard’s audience for the lad’s birthday party. It sure made his day when Mura showed up and wished him a happy birthday.
- One of the more bizarre quests came from a sailor who sailed his narrow boat over the river that cut through Magnolia Town. Said sailor had two clients, a couple, and one of them wanted to propose to the other. Mura’s job was to surround the boat in a vortex of water to add suspicion as well as making the proposal much more glamorous. With his Onmyōdō, that trick was easy to pull, and the results were sweet as sugar.
- Mura’s neighbor, Borne, wanted a rematch in Ex-Aid Battle Royale. He lost, again.
- His cousin back at home, Mai, had left a request at the guild herself. It was a smiley and a ‘good luck’ message, so Mura removed it from the job board… but he made sure to deliver some biscuits to her back at home.
- A newly-opened restaurant requested a wizard’s presence as an infamous food reviewer was visiting. It was a strange idea at first, but after witnessing the reviewer throw such a strong tantrum that food was thrown in the air and at people, Mura quickly realized why he was needed to be there.
- The staff thanked him for subduing the ridiculous reviewer and also informed him that they had a rat problem that needed to be taken care of. Since rats breed faster than insects, Mura made a thorough job on them.
- A building company accidently leaked chemicals into the water of the river that ran across Magnolia Town. Mura made sure to separate the heavily polluted water and substitute it with clean water before the issue started to hit unaware people and animals.
- A rare breed of mink had gotten lost. It was recognizable by its cow-like colors of black and white stigmata, and it was a close call for Mura to clean the polluted water of the river where he also found the mink swimming across with no care in the world.

Was that the last one? Oh, it was. Great!

Once he returned to the guild, Nessa was the first recognizable face that he saw. She looked a little flustered at first, but as Mura couldn’t figure out why, he just shrugged it off. It was probably just her cheerful nature showing itself, and it did increase her cuteness by a million.

His gaze was immediately switched to the blonde, shorter girl in front of him. “O-Oh, sorry if I’m interruptin-“ he excused himself as he intended to first go get something to drink and then, if needed, return here, but his eyes were locked onto the fashionable sword on the blonde girl’s hip. She was… she was definitely a swordswoman. Now that caught his attention…

“Ohh? Nessa, hi there! Also, who’s this cutie- is she a samurai?!” Kyuken, as that blue spirit ball head with a face he usually took form as, spoke to Fairy Tail’s beloved Ace.

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Thread TWC: 2154

This was a common expression for Percy, but he looked stressed. The young man was awkwardly meandering around the guildhall, hands in his pockets as if that would make him seem more relaxed, but ultimately he was very tense in the eyes. The unmatched orbs darted back and forth along the floors and, when he thought no one was looking, he'd lightly stoop to peek under a table or around a desk. Then he'd pull out his iLac to give it a worried glance, changing directions.

Percy lightly cursed himself under his breath. If he'd just got up today and trained he wouldn't be in such a pickle. But nooo, he thought the Mouse Assassin was ready for its field test instead. One of his guild jobs had implanted the fateful idea weeks ago. A poor old woman's home was absolutely infested with mice, and no matter what she or an exterminator did, it seemed a male and female mouse always avoided the culling and replenished the home with fresh pests at a rapid pace. Ultimately he had rid the home of the critters using a device that scanned her whole home for heat signatures, but it was only a matter of time before they returned.

But...what if her house had an ever-present agent of death, a guardian, something like the lovechild of a cat and a Roomba? Something to roam the nooks and crannies, destroying mice as they appeared, something a mouse wouldn't fear so it could get close, but more effective as any creative trap stocked with peanut butter or cheese. Something like another mouse that did the bidding of man. A mouse assassin. Yes, this invention would replace the mousetrap and exterminator, saving the average person hundreds if not thousands of jewel a year.

The feverish fury of creation locked him in his room at the guild for days, marinating in his own boy funk while crafting the robotic mouse out of metal and synthetic skin and fur. The toughest part was programming the Artificial Intelligence to have it behave like a normal mouse up until it vaporized its targets into dust. AI was always finicky at best to get nailed down, but soon enough it passed all its numerous trails without fail. All that was left was to adjust the laser to the perfect strength, enough to destroy a mouse but weak enough to keep homes from catching fire or the family dog being maimed.

Before he stamped Dagger Corp's logo on it and handed it over to marketing, he felt it needed a real-world test first. It seemed harmless at the time to let it loose in the guildhall. He had programmed an app on his phone to track it and take control of it if he needed to. The guildhall would get free mouse extermination, and perhaps he'd let them keep it for free.

However, an hour into the field test, the Mouse Assassin went rogue.

Small and quick, it darted around the guildhall, scurrying under tables and up into the walls and back again. Apparently, after murdering two of its brethren, something in the AI took offense to the genocide of its own perceived species and it was plotting rebellion. So far only two guildmates had had a small hole blasted in their shoe and their toes slightly burned (they didn't know it was the mouse assassin or had anything to do with him yet), but there was a bigger concern. Percy had lost control of it even with the override. If it could reprogram itself not to kill its "own kind", to attack human feet, and to ignore the commands from the app, how long until it deactivated its tracker and strengthened the laser?

So now it was, quite literally, a game of cat and mouse. He'd have to catch it, but first, he had to find it. Much to his dismay, it seemed it was heading for Nessa, the new girl, and the Guild Master of Fairy Tail himself, but hadn't yet come out into the open. Percy swallowed hard. Nearing the small group, he tried to act normal. "H-Hello," he greeted in general, hoping that by getting near them he'd be able to see the Mouse Assassin coming and stop it before it became too embarrassing. "W-Welcome," he shyly smiled to the blonde they were all essentially mobbing.

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It appeared that the blonde girl in front of him had just greeted Nessa with the sparkles and bright cheer of a young, aspiring adventurer entering a whole new world. Her voice and eyes full of awe told a lot about her, but now, his arrival into the guild had sort of caught her attention. Maybe Nessa was planning to take her in as a Fairy Tail Wizard, for Mura assumed by the blade on her hip that she wanted to, at the very least, offer her forces here. If she was a swordswoman, then perhaps she also used magic… maybe magic tied to that blade of hers?

Anyway, it was a genuinely happy event today. Mura had been a Wizard Saint for about two years now, and he rarely got to meet someone who was awed by his mere presence. Nessa, the Saint of Virtue, must’ve gotten so much more fame - what, with her outstanding beauty, her huge efforts in the guild’s activities, and she was also a model now? Mura had never tried modeling before, not even for a one-time quest back when he was a D-Rank Mage… wait, did the Sorceror’s Magazine count?

Well, if it didn’t before, it did now.

Therefore, meeting a person he had never met before like the swordswoman in front of him who seemed taken by surprise with one Wizard Saint after anot-

“Oh, uh, yeah, I’m a wizard. Shaman, specifically.”

Oof. Mura shouldn’t get used to being recognized, really. Maybe this was for the better; people in shelter often spared themselves from the scorching sun or something like that.

When Percy entered the gang, Mura briefly rose an eyebrow out of curiosity. Maybe Percy had worked hard today, for he seemed… distraught. Well, from reports only, Mura knew that Percy was doing solid, appreciated work in the guild despite not possessing magic himself. He just had to make sure not to overwork himself…

He rose his hand gently when Nessa introduced them to their potential recruit. Unlike others, this one actually appeared to enjoy a solid, formal conversation, and it was with conversations that the shaman learned the most about other people. He was about to find a seat, y’know, mend the ice, but a horrible incident arrived. Quite horrific, even.


When Nessa’s terrified shriek reached his ears, it made his hair bristle up in the air like being electrocuted, and it also caused his hand to have almost unsheathed his katana. A burst of wind escaped his body and softly pushed out in all directions, while Mura’s contour blurred as if heat was escaping his skin. It toned down while a drop of sweat trickled down Mura’s face, clearly unaware of the cause of Nessa’s fright.

His eyes were nigh bloodshot. He didn’t remember ever hearing Nessa scream like this before. Something tragic must’ve occurred, but at first sight, he… he didn’t see it. It was only when Nessa swatted at her skirt and warned that something was under it that Mura realized that something - something living - was under her skirt and almost scaring the soul out of her body.

”GET IT OUT!"

“WITH PLEASU-“

Kyuken caught on and took the unintended bait immediately, but before he even got the chance to do some debauchery to his precious Ace, Mura chopped the ghost down to the floor before helping Nessa. Since she was in a state of shock, he had to act quickly.

His hand pointed at Nessa’s lap, and with a quick flick, his hand was now pointing down to the floor under her feet. And just like that, the mechanical mouse was bent by his Onmyōdō - it was mostly metal - and it fell onto the floor while a shocked look appeared on Mura’s face.

“…! Wait, I didn’t- wait, it’s made of steel?”

With another flick by his hand, he pulled the mouse assassin directly to the grasp of his right hand as if commanding gravitational forces. He took a closer look at it by holding its front paw and back leg, akin to a researcher curiously holding up some web, all while his forehead was slowly getting a burn from its laser.

WC: 705

The youngest Dagger son hadn't been expecting to receive compliments, so as the new girl gave him one about his eyes and stared into them so intently, his cheeks slowly started to warm into a light pink. "Uh...t-thank you. You, too," he stammered, unable to maintain eye contact for long. As his eyes darted shyly to the left, his hands jammed deeper into his pockets as if that'd make him look less awkward in front of the Starlight Maiden and his guild master. It didn't work. Nessa acknowledged him as well, to which he bobbed his head and offered a small friendly smile, still a little bashful around the accomplished mage. Surely two brothers could not be more different. He was like Artemis's antithesis.

It was only when Nessa did the proper introductions that he brought his eyes back up to the group, using it as a way to nod a greeting to Mura as well as Taylor. Being so close to the two mages he'd read about in Sorcerer's Magazine had momentarily distracted him from his actual purpose. He was supposed to be watching for the Mouse Assassin to prevent the very thing that was just about to happen.

Nessa's shriek jerked his attention to her, following her gaze down to her leg. Oh god. There it was. It was on her. His skin turned as white as the right side of his hair. THe mOUse aSSaSsiN was oN NesSa! Percy's brilliant brain promptly short-circuited, as if he couldn't possibly process that the very worst-case scenario was unfolding right before his eyes. Not only was his failed, rogue invention on Nessa Cordelia Lux, but it was right in front of Mura Kensho and newcomer Taylor Ackerly. A pathetic wheeze fluttered from lips and wide, terrified eyes locked on Nessa's leg, slowly rising to her skirt. Nessa was screaming. Percy was screaming internally. The mouse was under her skirt now oh god oh sh--

He couldn't very well lunge for it now, now could he? It was under her skirt! It was too late! What could he do?

Poor Percy. As things devolved in the worst way, the poor young man was once again lit on fire. The last time he felt this hot was when his grandfather disliked his invention and caused it to backfire in his face, gifting him with the lovely scar he still sported today. He froze in place, eyes wide, face breaking into a light sweat, skin gradually turning bright red from his forehead all the way to his feet. If someone could phase out of existence by sheer force of will, Percy would surely be the first to do so.

Mura saved the day, magicking the Mouse Assassin to "death". Though its metallic limbs twisted under the fake fur like a creature in the throes of death, the sparks shooting from the joins were clearly inorganic, as was the tinny whirring coming from within as the parts that made it work met resistance against bent parts. Mura brought it into his grasp, giving it a good look. It was only then that Percy sucked in a loud breath, just realizing he was holding his breath and about to suffocate himself. "G-Guild M-M-Master!" he exclaimed, taking a step forward and bowing awkwardly. Would this get him kicked out? "I-It's mine, I'm ssssorry, it's, ah, uh, an in-invention gone wrong, sir. N-Nessa, so sorry!" he stuttered like skin skidding on a dry slide, trying to ignore the prickling of panicked tears in his right eye. Though he stayed bowed, unable to raise his eyes to anyone in the group, his trembling hands raised as if asking for his broken toy back. He had full intentions of destroying it himself as soon as he was out of sight...presuming he didn't die of embarrassment or a heart attack before then.

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o.O

In all honesty, the whole event and its level of risk, danger and seriousness died down as quickly as Nessa started screaming… at least for the young-looking Guildmaster. The way its joints sparked and flickered flying dots of light and heat said it all; it was some kind of mechanical construction. And who else in the vicinity would be able to engineer such an automaton other than Percy who was with them here? Given by his facial expressions revealing worry, fear and shock, it was definitely his invention.

“Mhm, steel,” Mura responded, “It looks so real, though… but it’s not living. Damn…”

Spinning the mouse around would give him the time he needed to hear Percy’s explanation. An invention gone wrong, eh… well, gladly it didn’t cause further damage other than a scare and the burn mark on Mura’s forehead.

“Phew… guess everything’s fine, now,” Mura expressed in relief, still turning over the mouse for further inspection. It was kind of cute up close, like a small pet robot… did… did Percy just engineer his own pet?

Taylor’s question reached Mura too, and he turned his face towards her to inform her.

"So you two are the strongest mages in Fairy Tail?"
“I am definitely up there… I don’t think anyone in the guild is stronger than Nessa, though.”

That was that question. Short and honest, he genuinely believed that Nessa outranked everyone in the guild - not only by magical prowess, but also by heart, vigor, spirit. And he’s watched her grow from the bottom so long ago… it felt nice to think back to those days. Was this how an old man felt all the time?

A while ago, all the classic craziness was almost inexistent for a short period in Fairy Tail. It was, in the end, a part of their identity - whether they liked it or not, something was just so lax and untamed in this guild that brought upon these scenarios and made them a daily basis. It was magic, really.

It only seemed to draw Taylor in more and more to join this guild. She was beaming with energy, excited to become part of their ranks and warm family. At this point, just from seeing her reactions to this whole event, Mura felt that she would really bring much more to the atmosphere around here. She had a kind of radiance emitting from her face that reminded him of Nessa, and she appeared to be the curious type of girl too. All such positive traits were welcome here, but protocol had to be followed.

After such a scare, Nessa sure needed to calm down and relax again. Since they now needed a place to sit at, Mura whistled towards the bartender and held four fingers up in the air - four drinks their way. After that, he suddenly sat in a cross-legged position on a log of wood that rose up from the ground and led him towards a free table, still holding the mechanical robot that Percy built.

“By all means, take a seat,” he invited the others, his hands busy scrapping and poking the robot, “I’ll just… uh, check this automaton out. If it’s still working… s-sorry about that, Percy, hehe.”

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TWC: 705 + 541 = 1246

Uugghhhnnn he didn't hand over the mouse, so Percy looked even more like an idiot staying bowed for that long, hands waiting expectantly for what wouldn't come. Having no choice but to return to standing straight, a very defeated, emotionally frayed Percy followed after his Guild Master and Ace. He wanted nothing more than to snatch the mouse and skitter into his own hole to hide, but he couldn't. Well, he could have abandoned his creation entirely and made for the door, but in both genius and stupidity, he'd equipped the mouse with an auto-repair feature. If Mura's attack hadn't truly damaged something irreparable, in a few hours it'd be moving around again. He really needed it back.

Though Nessa and Mura may have forgiven him, Percy hadn't forgiven himself. "Y-Yeah, I'm a scientist," he answered Taylor, who was as perky as he was devastated, quietly while they made their way to the table and chairs. Once seated, he did just as the others had said. He's explain what the thing was and get it over with so this poor new girl could get initiated properly without him mucking it up further. "It's called the.. M-Mouse Assassin..." Percy informed them, though his voice became rather small upon the approach of the name. Now that he said it aloud, it sounded positively idiotic. After clearing his through and tugging a little at his collar, the young man, whose eyes were fixed firmly on the tabletop, continued quickly. "After a pest control job for an elderly lady in town, I had the idea for a robot that looked and acted like a mouse so it could get in the walls and all the small places mice hide. It was supposed to kill the mice and then remain wandering like one of those robot vacuums, warding off new pests and eliminating the need for costly repeat exterminations...but...the AI clearly went rogue..."

Thankfully, after his speedy explanation, the drinks arrived and he focused on that. He took a long few sips before placing it back down, sighing. "You might want to destroy it soon," Percy told Mura, sneaking a peek at the sparking "creature" before becoming intensely interested in the liquid in his cup. "It's equipped to self-repair, so...don't be sorry. One way or another, it's getting destroyed."


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… D-Did Mura do something wrong? Percy sounded to feel very uncomfortable with the mouse in the shaman’s hands, apparently harmless and unmoving with its loose limbs. According to the scientist, it was constructed to sort of save money for constant repair at houses containing pest and invasive creatures like mice, but at one point, its AI went rogue. That led to the request of having it destroyed, to which Mura nodded. Percy knew what he had constructed and was more adept in knowledge of that robot than Mura was, so his beseech was serious.

The mouse robot’s limbs suddenly pulled themselves into its body as if gravity around the mouse crushed it, pushing its body and clamping it into an even smaller surface area than before. The cracking sounds of breaking metal was swift as all that was left was a small orb of destroyed scraps in Mura’s hand, about the size of those small glass orbs kids played with. Maybe some of its components could’ve been reused… but alas, Percy made his request clear.

Truly, Taylor was beaming with energy. It was quite refreshing to see, honestly, and her dominantly positive look on things reminded him of Kumiko-chan, albeit her voice and posture - as well as age, apparently - rendered Taylor much more mature… seriously, kitsunes were SO likely to be at least a hundred years old…

Something else that drew his attention was her sword. She had it strapped onto her hip, a classic broadsword design, its length rendering it to be used as both a one-handed and two-handed sword. How she used it would likely be far more different than how Mura’s own sword style expressed itself in combat, which only begged him to ask for a round or two… or was that Kyuken’s interests leaking into him after years of mending souls together?

Hmh… he should wait to ask until after she had gotten her stamp. Then again, it didn’t have to be today… but busy times were ahead of the guild, and no one could read the future ahead of themselves.

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Thread TWC: 3,685

Now that the mousy contraption was officially dead by the mighty guild master's hand, Percy could relax, if only just a little. All the attention being on him in this rather embarrassing snafu had his insides tied in knots, but the least he could do was hang around a polite amount of time before slinking off to calm down in his room. Taylor's compliments brought a little color back into his pale face, and Nessa's did even more so. A compliment from a Wizard Saint, a mage so strong he could barely fathom it... his fanboy tendencies could hardly endure it. He'd just offer a weak smile and nod to them, lowering his eyes to the table where they would stay as the attention rightfully shifted back to the girl hoping to join this lively place.

Once it came down to stamping time, Percy did raise his eyes again in preparation for welcoming Taylor properly, from member to member this time. He'd been so happy the day he'd gotten his stamp. And while he was no closer to cracking his magic dilemma, he'd made a few friends and witnessed a lot of interesting things. He was always up for making another friend, and he was certainly plenty curious about the sword on her hip and just what she was capable of. Like the scientist he was, his mind was always thinking, analyzing, and compiling as much information as possible.

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