A newcomer to Fiore

The rain against his face felt almost like knives, so cold and fast against his skin that he could swear it was cutting. All around him he could hear the yelling of sailors as they fought with the ropes and the shaking of the ship as it was battered about by the waves and winds. Gritting his teeth in anger as he felt himself get momentarily distracted Remi growled in annoyance before centering himself, blocking out all distractions but the storm. The rage of the wind, lightning flashing through the sky as he tried to force his will on the weather itself. The one book on the subject he had been able to find had mentioned that such dissipating a natural storm would definitely be beyond his current ability but maybe... Yes! Slowly raising his hands up he felt his magic power rush to his fingers and the sky directly around the ship began to clear, clouds being forced around the ship. The winds buffeting the ship soon stopped and Remi could vaguely hear the captain shout out orders to the crew before a large hand slapped his shoulder, breaking his concentration.

A rugged and weathered face giving him a fierce glare that matched his own appeared as Remi turned to face the captain who quickly crossed his arms. “I appreciate the help lad but my boys can handle a little rough weather. Don’t exhaust yourself trying to fight back a storm you're not ready to handle.” Remi opened his mouth to argue when suddenly an ear-shattering roar could be heard. The two men rush to the edge of the boat to see a large shape move under the water, passing underneath the boat. Looking to the other side as sailors began to point the first thing Remi’s mind registered was teeth and glowing green eyes…

Much like before a hand on his shoulder ripped Remi out of his thoughts, his hand subconsciously drifting to the sword on his waist. The Captain gave Remi a smile before gesturing to the town of Hargeon across the bay before them. “Well, lad there she is just like I promised you. Hargeon and Fiore itself. All that adventure you were telling me about starts here.” Smiling at the shorter man Remi nods as he begins to feel the tension of the past week begin to leave his shoulders, eyes gazing out onto the town almost with a sparkle in them from his excitement. “That it does, Captain. I can’t thank you enough for this you know… If you hadn’t let me aboard when you did…” Stopping when the other man raised a hand Remi blinked when the Captain shook his head. “Think nothing of it lad, you saved my life and more importantly the lives of my crew against that beast so I think that makes us even. And you have our word that no one will hear anything about you from us, least not till tales of you reach our ears. Mark my words lad, you're gonna do something great.”

With one last clap on the back, the Captain left Remi to his thoughts as the young man leaned against the railing, watching the town with a smile on his face. Not long after once, the ship had made port Remi made a point to shake everyone's hand on the crew he could before throwing his travel bag over his shoulder. Giving one last nod to the Captain he jumped over the side, slowing his fall with a well-timed burst of wind before looking around with wide-eyed excitement at the port, a big smile on his face as he took the first steps of his adventure in a new land. Looking around as he made his way through town wit ha large smile on his face Remi couldn't help but stop to talk to people, merely enjoying the chance to get to experience a new place while mentally thankful that he had taken so many lessons in the language, as he only had a slight Minstrelois accent instead of something more noticeable. Putting aside making any plans on what to do next he instead decided that for now, he would merely enjoy himself, ready and willing to explore a new land.

WC: 717

Hargeon seemed to be rich in those seeking adventures today. Near the edge of town was a young woman in pigtails, sporting a large mage's hat and a matching close-fitting get up. It was a little over the top, but she was the main character of her story, so she had to look the part, right? Currently, Valentina Capricho was on her way to the docks with the intention of comparing them to the ones of Port Robinshire in Ca-Elum she was so used to, but she wouldn't quite make it. Something else had caught her eye.

"How much for this spellbook?" she eyes, jade eyes glistening in excitement. While she was light on jewel, Valli had never been very good with managing her funds. Perhaps it was a quirk of growing up rich but insisting on making it on her own dime for her adventures. A dimly glowing book was situated on top of a whole stack displayed on a discount table outside one of Hargeon's many shops. The girl adored magic and was always looking to expand her own, but the shopkeeper would throw a wrench into it.

"100,000 jewel."

"100,000 jewel!? ¡Dios mío! But, it's on the discount table!" she protested, perhaps sounding harsher than intended. Her accent was a strange mix of Elumish tinted Ishgar and Enci, since her family had made sure to speak the language of their motherland in their home to keep their culture alive after the move. Still, her words were clear enough that the businessman had no issue tasting the displeasure.

"Look, lady. I'm in the business to make money, so yeah, that's the price. Want it or not?" gruffed the paunchy man, picking up the book just in case Valli's fingers got a little sticky. Could never be too careful, especially with an outdoor discount table.

"Uh...I...." she stammered, conflicted. Bringing out her smartphone, she took a peek at her bank account and cringed. Just enough. She could buy it. But if she did...she'd have almost nothing left for food or shelter. She shouldn't. Right. She wouldn't. That'd be stupid. She was a reasonable woman who made good choices.

"I'll take it!"

Wait, what? Her mouth moved on its own, as did her hand to hold up her debit card for payment. It was hard to resist the things she wanted. What if there was a delicious spell inside that would spice up her story even more? Her writer's spirit was stronger than her own will. Oh well, hardships made for interesting reading.

Clutching her new book in her arms, Valentina abruptly turned before she could blow the rest of her money with this greedy shopkeeper and ran right into someone else harmlessly walking by. "Oof! Sorry!" she said with a small laugh, turning her face up to see from under the floppy brim just who she'd plowed into.

[wc: 479]

Current appearance:

She wasn't even supposed to be on the clock today, but Luna was playing good Samaritan and chasing down a band of highwaymen turned high scale robbers. Luna came down to Hargeon with her future sister in law, Ema. Ema was to meet with her aunt and uncle before heading off to meet with a lawyer in a foreign family member's estate. Luna didn't know the specifics but from what she understood only Ema needed to arrive in person while her aunt and uncle gave her parents their share, and rumors were that Ema was the inheritor of one of their estates but in all honesty Luna was just grateful for the peaceful journey the two shared before they made it to the pub. Luna thought her job was in all honesty done and was about ready to get back in her Harlem magic car when she heard the sound of shouting and commotion as she saw local law enforcement chasing a group of men carrying duffel bags with shiny goods falling out. She could sense the disturbed life force as the law enforcement men fell one by one as the group was losing the battle. 

Luna quickly pulled out the sheathed wooden blade from her car and closed the door, the sheath automatically attached itself to the waist of her skirt as she would start to give chase. by every downed officer she passed, a pink liquid droplet oozed from her skin that she flicked creating a flower that blossomed quickly and opened up and revealed a multicolored droplet, a Soul Tear. The Nature Fae found being able to quickly sprout such a plant on demand as it allowed her to multi-task and not have to slow down and stop to heal others. "I'm a Sabertooth mage, consider this pro bono, I'll subdue each of them, pick them up and arrest them as I do?" She said as she got close to the law enforcement still running, the disgruntled and stressed guards turned to eachother and nodded. "Got it, knock them on their asses and we'll clean up."

Luna began to sped up as she saw the thieves, before taking in all the facts around. "Six men crew, two men already down from earlier... Four men, none of them appear to be too strong but they never know. Stone paved road, and their about to pass a florist shop- wait a minute." Luna thought as she clenched a fist, row of potted flowers grew spontaneously as their roots shoved into the ground as their stems thickened and lengthened, wrapping around the right arm and leg of one of the four masked men and pulled him aside and towards the ground.

"Shite, they got a chlorokinetic bitch!" She heard one of the men say to the other, she smirked as she enjoyed her slayer honed senses, withholding the fact proved to be quite an advantage at times.  "Well, they'll be avoiding plants for now." Luna explained but she wasn't out quite yet. She turned her gaze to the rather heftier of the group before looked at the ground a few steps ahead of him, her grip tensed up as a small clump of stone rose up and rolled a few feet, so when the man got close he ended up tripping with his face falling into the rock, before Luna commanded the rock to move around and mold into bindings restricting his hands behind his back.

With two men left Luna felt confident that she could handle them as she would speed up as the chase got close to the docks. Luna knew her options were slimming down as the closer they got to the docks the probability of escape was increasing. Another pink droplet formed oozing out of her finger that she flicked ahead handing far enough for time to form before just as one of the man passed, a pine tree sprouted in the midst of the stone path flinging him high into the air before he would land in a hay barrel groaning in pain. Luna felt that the man was already immobilized and binding him any further would be unnecessary, nor was it right to treat him immediately when he was part of the issue causing harm to others.

Luna was down to the last man, she could sense the desperation in his life force before he would pull out some jury rigged fusion of a magical musket pistol and a common aero wand. He pulled the trigger to shoot at Luna a few times as several small bullets of compressed air shot out at Luna that exploded as they made contact. Only two out of seven bullets managed to land land causing moderate damage. Luna felt herself lose her balance for the moment but she regained it a moment later, just enough time for a carriage to get in Luna's way allowing the man to have an opportunity.

If Luna was like she was when she started out, she'd have waited for the carriage to pass and risk cutting her losses, however her years of experience have shown her there's a new way to think as she managed to slide underneath the carriage before she would continue, following the locked life force as she would try to continue, following the life force of the man as he tried hiding in an alleyway before glancing out into the alley. The last thief saw Luna as the two made eye contact before he started to look around frantically before he reached out pointed his magical firearm at the head of the nearest person before finding a sword armed man and a book holding woman nearby before pointing his gun close to the woman's head. "Alright nobody move or this girl's brain comes out her nose by force." He screamed causing Luna to stop concerned. "Really buddy? A hostage? You saw what I did to your friends, they weren't harmed badly. Look just turn yourself over to the cops, a hostage isn't gonna look good in court." Luna replied calmly, subtly scanning the area for any plant life or animals that she could call on for help.

Much to her dismay the only thing she could find was a potted plant up above, some form of fly trap plant that she couldn't identify immediately. "Shaddup, if I see any rocks out of place, her skull will be." He said looking at the cops approaching before smirking. "Wanna play hero? I think I'd rather see you play the bad girl, waste those pigs or she'll learn to think outside the skull." Luna sighed and pretended to play along as she grabbed the hilt of her sword before the potted plant would tip over off the window sill evolving as it dropped, becoming much larger and quickly consumed the man's gun before he could fire, his arm trapped inside before the stems wrapped around him completely. Luna turned back to walk over as the plant dragged him aside before Luna approached the other two, letting the guards cut and arrest the man. "So sorry about that, didn't mean for it to get out of hand. Did he hurt you? I'm Luna Mira, a skilled healer." Luna said as she searched the two for injuries with a glance.

WC 1217

Feeling someone walk right into him Remi instinctively reached his arms out to stop the person from falling right into his chest. Taking half a second to thank his brother for that lesson Remi steps back and quickly looks the shorter girl up and down, raising an eyebrow at the hat. If the stranger wasn’t a witch of some kind he would eat his sword. Starting to give a half-bow out of habit he quickly caught himself and instead adjusted his jacket before opening his mouth to speak, a hint of Mistrelois accent in his words. “Oh think nothing of it, I am fine so no harm done.”

He was about to ask her name before hearing gunshots ring out in the air. Turning towards the source of the noise he quickly rips his blade from its sheath before mentally cursing. Showing that he was unused to his own magic he shifts the grip of his weapon to one hand before holding up his off-hand. It was that hesitation on what to bring to the fold that left him unprepared when the thug burst onto the scene and pointed his weapon at the girl. Cursing softly in his native tongue as the situation escalates he glares at the gunmen as the idiot gives his full attention elsewhere, stepping between the girl and the gun he raises his free hand up in front of him, quickly forming spinning orbs of water, wind, and lightning on his fingertips. In truth, he wasn’t exactly sure what he could do that would stop the bullet but he was willing to bet a blast of wind would throw it off course.

Lucky for him he didn’t have to intervene when the thug was quickly dispatched by the pink-haired mage who was chasing him. Raising an eyebrow as he watched the thug be carted off by a plant of all things he shakes his head slightly and chuckles, briefly wondering if this is even strange by this country's standards. Turning to address the woman he quickly dissipates his spell with a flick of his wrist and quickly sheaths his sword. “I would say we are fine, the cur was foolish to think I would stand by and do nothing and somehow I doubt the lady was helpless. Still, you have my thanks, Miss Mira.”

WC: 388
TWC: 1,105

Unused to this kind of violent scenario, Valentina reacted as most people would. It was funny. She always imagined she'd be the type that would put on a brave, defiant face and cleverly use her magic to save herself. Instead, she was caught off guard mid-chance-meeting and was powerless to just stand frozen with widened, terrified eyes. Her heart sunk, then began racing. Fight or flight chemicals pulsed in her veins, but she could do neither. All she could do was stand there, knowing that this desperate man that came from nowhere would simply pull the trigger and her story would be over. Her new book would be splattered in her blood. Her novel would remain unfinished and her work wasted. Her adventure had barely begun! Valli tried to talk herself out of her panic, thinking about how much worse her younger brother Santiago had gone through. He hadn't come out unscathed in any sense of the word, but he was alive and still fighting. He'd survived an Alpha attack! Surely she could survive a criminal running from some pink-haired girl.

And yet, as both the blond stranger and the pursuer acted and a plant ultimately saved her from the aim of the gun, her composure rippled. The relief that flooded her gave way to the unrestrained fear, and before she knew it her legs had given out and she plopped down onto her knees, shaking. "Ha...haha..." she laughed humorlessly, though the tears squeezing out of her eyes would serve as her outlet for dealing with the quick but traumatic experience. "I'm fine," her voice warbled. That was certainly an experience. Never had she felt such terror. Well, not for herself. She'd felt it for her brother both when he'd been lost and presumed dead at sea, and when he was found but so severely injured. The difference was subtle but notable all the same.

Not trusting her legs, she just took off her hat and hugged it to her chest, looking up at her savior. "Thank you for saving me, Luna Mira," she said. A small, grateful smile appeared on her stressed face. "I'm Valentina Capricho. I'm sure glad to meet you!"

[WC: 363 || Thread Total: 2792/2000 || C rank Free Form complete || New Thread Total: 792]

Luna let the guards handle the thief as he was being dragged off away. She was not trying to take credit or reap reward considering that she did nothing major, all perps were caught and and the property damage was minimal there was no need to make a fuss over the incident. However she did notice the brave attempt of the man who stepped in trying to play the chivalrous hero, Luna was not yet ready to declare that heroic or foolish. "Well be careful next time you get between a hostage and a weapon, not every criminal has poor reflexes. That was merely a low scale with a knock off wind pistol indeed, but still not one to be underestimated. I can name seven upstarts who said something similar before one day underestimating someone got someone hurt or worse."

Luna turned her focus back to Valentina, she could sense the anxiety from the young lady before gently reaching her hand out to the young woman, grabbing her shoulder as her hand glowed in a soft pink light. While predominantly a healing spell, Nature's Mercy also had a calming effect on the user, something Luna had learned to use to help others who had been in similar situations restore mental balance. "It's alright, I was just in the neighborhood at the right time. Normally I work out of Ace of Spades and the northern areas with the Sabertooth guild but, before I could skip town this happened." Luna explained before looking at the man once again and noted the sword. She had a gut feeling about the man given his attitude, accent, and the armed appearance. "Though if you're in this country to try and work for guilds, Fairy Tail is just the next town over, otherwise I recommend the Rune Knights."

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Remi opened his mouth to argue the woman’s point before promptly snapping it shut. Perhaps it wouldn’t be the best idea to explain to the woman that it wasn’t as much the first idea that popped into his head but rather the only one he was confident about. Out of sheer habit, he put his hands behind his back and frowned softly, mentally vowing to take some time out soon to get more practice with his magic. Not a new plan but one that was becoming more and more necessary. Glancing over at Valentina he frowns only grew as he took note of how she was acting. Not that he couldn’t relate, he was fairly sure he couldn’t stand after his most recent brush with mortal peril though his memories of the event were more than a little hazy.

Raising an eyebrow at the display of magic Remi had to fight to keep a smile on his face. With how new to the magic he was being forced into situations involving it never seemed to stop surprising him. Once he was addressed again he blinked softly and cocked his head to the side, the sheer force of habit keeping his back straight. “If I may be so bold, why not your own? From what I have heard it seems odd that you wouldn’t try to expand your own ranks.” Pausing afterward he bit back a curse before flashing both of them an apologetic smile. “Oh, I suppose I should introduce myself. My name is Remi…” *He quickly stopped himself from saying his last name, adding coming up with a fake one to that mental to-do list of his. At least until he was sure he would be left alone. Quickly forcing his self frustration off his face he smiles once more, full of good-natured charm. “My current plan is to travel around as a guildless mage for now. I am rather new to magic and would rather sort myself out first than being thrown into the deep end so to speak.”

WC: 343

The spell did its job and Valli quickly got over the worst of her anxiety from the scare. It was over now and she needed to write it down while it was fresh. Standing, she waved her hand created a small ripple in space to her dimension of books. She reached in and when her hand reemerged, she had a leather journal and a pen. Plopping the ragged notebook on top of her new book like a table, she made a few quick scribbles on the pages. Valentina made notes about how being held hostage-- no matter how short-- had felt. Quick penstrokes committed the smell of desperate sweat on the man with the gun, and quick action from the blond stranger, and the victory won by a humble and dry woman with flowing pink hair to the paper. She pinpointed how her heart had come loose from its cage and free fell into ice water before it began convulsing and the way her legs had lost all strength. The sensation of knowing you should do something to propagate your own survival, but being frozen in shock and terror instead. How it felt to be the saved instead of the savior and how it was bittersweet. It was funny how someone could be grateful but also ashamed. Perhaps this was the origin story for the hero and the diving board for the development of strength? The dark-haired girl was finished writing in just a few minutes while Remi and Luna spoke. Slender fingers snapped her journal shut with a satisfied and invigorated gleam in her jade eyes, which now properly paid attention to the two she stood with.

Luna was making guild suggestions and just happened to mention one she'd already been interested in. "I was already considering joining Fairy Tail, actually!" she chirped in her Elumish accent at Luna. She hadn't been in Fiore long at all, but she'd already heard of that guild. They must be pretty famous, which means lots of history and lots of jobs. "They seem quite chill about freedom and stuff, which is great because I want to travel a lot," she paused to look at Remi on that note since he'd mentioned travel and she respected that. "Plus, I really need money. Adventures are expensive." Valli's eyes sparked with both enthusiasm and determination...and a little bit of desperation as well, though otherwise her face held a small, friendly smile. Jewel was important. She barely had enough to feed herself and her brother after buying that book...

[wc: 423 || new thread total: 1,860]

Luna had a strong feeling of kinship with the woman that felt justified when she saw that the woman's first instinct was to write down notes of the affair. She had a feeling when she saw the first book that she was a fellow bookworm but when she saw the girl start to write down notes, glimpsing a few details about sensations that's when it started to hit Luna just what sort of bookworm this woman was. "You're an aspiring author aren't you?" Luna took a guess as this line of work did allow her to come across a few authors in her time. However she dragged her focus back to the topic of guilds.

For the most part she was not surprised with Remi's dialogue, introducing himself before drifting off before regaining composure, and announcing his plans to work solo and learn the ways of Magic. While Valentina seemed to posses a stronger idea of what she wanted, joining up with the Fairy Tail Guild in order to make money to make up for the expenses of traveling the world. "Trust me I know, my car wasn't exactly on the cheap side. Dagger corp is aptly name for being a Dagger to the wallet. Still if it's adventure you want, to see some truly magical and wondorous things both just beyond and far from your imagination, join Sabertooth. We've got some unique things there." She said recalling the earlier point Remi made regarding her lack of advertisement for her own guild and believed she should address it.

"As for why I didn't advocate for joining Sabertooth, Ace of Spades is nearly all the way across the country, and we happen to have a rather, unique cast of characters: immortals, my god slaying daughter, a few mid life crisis, a famous model, well two if you count me but I'm really just riding the coat tails of Gaia, a goofball with divine powers, among various parties. It's a really, weird set up there." Luna explained casually as she was going over the main roster of her guild. However the goals of the swordsman were gnawing at Luna inside so she thought that she should at least give the man a proper warning regarding the path that he has chosen.

"However Remi, take it from someone who's a member of a guild, a former master of a legal guild, a former guildless mage. Don't start in the private sector, it's a bad idea, especially if you come to learn. Don't start this path alone, inexperience will bite you either as a sword through your chest, your conscience, or in court. It's easy for a novice to be deceived into accidentally taking a dark job or walking into situations unprepared, not to mention if you get into danger, especially in a country where no one knows what your doing, and something happens, odds are no one is coming to your rescue." Luna explained starting with the downsides of the lack of a guild, especially a legal guild's safety net. While she knew and respected that the decision was ultimately up to Remi, she did at the very least feel the need to warn him of the risks and giving him examples of his options before letting him risk his very life. "Plus there are, ancillary benefits to guilds, such as assets like libraries, free residence or at least a relatively cheap one. Although, ultimately the decision is yours. I don't mean to scare you but if you still want to work independently, you're gonna want to get off the next stop after Magnolia, in Talonia." She explained referencing the town that not only housed guildless mages but various other independent contractors of a variety of sorts. She was not sure how Remi would fair at the moment with his current state, albeit from what she sensed magically, the idea of him being chewed up and spat out did seem to ring a few bells as Luna recalled the various sorts she met at the Soul Bar. She never really had to go through much hassling as by the time she worked solo she wasn't a greenhorn anymore, she was a disgraced former guild master sure, but in a place like Talonia that didn't mean much, just her strength.

"While you might find work in a few taverns now and then, Talonia is the city of Guildless work, for every kind of individual. While true you might see a few people, being paid for unsavory work that can't be proven, there's a bar called the Soul Bar, they got the best board for jobs for anyone regardless of their moral standards. If you really want to make it far as a solo, you'll end up there whether you like the place or not. Trust me, they even have rules about exposing other mages so don't even try to play the hero unless it's on a job. It's a necessary evil." Luna informed Remi hoping to be able to let Remi make the decisions with all the facts.

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TWC 1912

Hearing Vali get excited about the independent guild brought a smile to his face and he briefly wondered how anyone could consider ever harming someone like her. Hiding a soft chuckle at her excitement behind his hand his eyes danced with mirth before he nodded in agreement with her last statement. While he was confident the funds he had… borrowed from his family would help for a time he was positive to run out of those sooner or later.

Upon hearing the pink-haired mage promise wondrous sights Remi’s teeth flashed in an eager smile and an almost hungry look formed in his eyes. He didn’t consider himself naive enough to just believe the first sales pitch he got but regardless it was at least worth doing some digging on his own. Upon hearing her talk about her guild further he did raise his eyebrow, unable to keep the look of disbelief off his face. While he didn’t doubt such extraordinary things could be found in the world he was skeptical that so many would truly be found in one guild. Hearing she was a model made him blink as he honestly didn’t think there would any crossover between being a mage and one. One would think the typical highly dangerous jobs of a mage would pay a lot more than taking pictures after all.

It was when she directly addressed him again that he froze in place and did his level best to keep a natural calm though it was soon overtaken by a frown on his face. In truth, it might be best for him to still try and follow the guildless path. He would prefer not to drag anyone else into his problems, it was his drive to get out that started him down this path. Turning around and begging others for help would leave a nasty stain on his pride. Hell if he was a bit more naive he would probably bet that diving into some kind of criminal underworld would be beneficial for him to keep hidden. Sadly that route would never lead to what he really wanted out of this life.

He glances down at his sword for a moment before scoffing softly to himself, wondering how useful all those years of training would really be in the world of monsters and magic that he has suddenly found himself in. Looking up, his eyes drift to Vali for a moment before looking at Luna with a smile on his face, his Minstrelois accent bleeding into his words more. “Thank you for your advice, Miss Luna. I can’t promise anything from one conversation but I will give them the consideration they deserve if what I can find out supports that idea.” Breathing through his nose for a moment he glances off into the distance towards his homeland before looking back at the pair. “I want to do this right though, and my honor means more to me than any sense of pride. Can’t very well have the adventures I am looking for alone now can I?”

WC: 510

As Luna asked about her aspirations, Valentina noting her powerful powers of perceptions. Not many would draw that conclusion from something so simple as watching someone write in a notebook. Perhaps she should be written into the story as a world-wise life coach... That thought was put on hold as she was told a little about Sabertooth. Seeing wondrous things sounded right up her alley, but there was just one snag. "Sabertooth's like, really legal, right? I'm not familiar with Fiore's laws yet. Plus, I think my focus on experiencing adventures for my book would distract me from being a reliable hero. I bet that sounds a little selfish, haha!" she said, flipping one of her pigtails over her shoulder.

There was more to it than that. In fact, that sounded like exactly what she wanted. Hero stories were always hair-raising and popular, but...there was a huge snag in that plan that kept her from it. The snag was named Santiago, her younger brother by 2 years. He'd been having a really hard time lately and wasn't making good choices. Putting herself in a position of even more conflict than she already had to try to keep him out of trouble seemed unwise. Valli wanted to think that Santi would come around with a little distance and time away from his trauma, but so far he'd only gotten worse. He'd gone from wavering between reclusiveness and public tantrums to shoplifting. The very reason he was with her on this epic quest was to keep him from either going to jail or being put in an institution. It'd defeat the purpose if she joined a faction that demanded she haul her brother off to prison. She'd prefer to stay morally gray where her family was concerned.

Valentina reopened her book to make a few more notes while Luna spoke to Remi about the cons of being without a guild. Once they were finished, she glanced up. "Hehe, so serious," Valli quietly giggled, "You know, I don't see why Fiore is so big on pushing mages into guilds. There are mages all over the world doing just fine without banding together under a goal. I can think of only one mage guild in Ca-Elum off the top of my head, the rest were labor guilds or merchant guilds with people of all sorts. None of them encouraged lots of travel, though," she said with a small frown. They were also too close to her family, and if she wanted to experience the world without complications, she needed to distance herself from the place she'd be trapped soon enough. "And I've taken plenty of non-criminal jobs from the boards in Talonia, but I've heard that the big-ticket items are given to the guilds here because of being able to work with guildmates. Working alone is bollocks. It'd be nice to do one big job with a friend in Fairy Tail and get a nice paycheck for some extensive travel. Then I wouldn't have to stop so often to work at the cosplay cafe. Do you know how creepy the guys can be that come there? Ick."

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Luna was not entirely surprised by the reactions of either individual in regards to explaining guilds. Luna sighed as she didn't really enjoy being called too serious. "Not gonna say you're not wrong there Valentina. Also yes, I'm familiar with the cosplay café, I too was once a poor combatant in need of money. I even posed as someone's girlfriend for a day. Trust me if you take jobs like that one, doesn't hurt to do a background check first. Also a disguise never hurts." She relayed her experience briefly to Valentina as it was a common story for Luna to hear about her peers starting out working for that particular cafe. She herself had one or two war stories from the experience but preferred to keep those memories far from the conscious mind. "As for the serious tone, trust me, I just preach for safety. The benefit of guilds is you know there's people to watch your back and notice when things gone wrong. Also at the same time I've worked with people from different guilds on joint jobs or tagged along while I was still in a guildless phase after, an unpleasant experience." Luna explained rubbing her neck awkwardly.  "However there's also a great deal of merit to what you said about certain groups getting sent certain jobs, while a fair bit are based geographically, there are some who's clients prefer, select mages. Not always about guild, sometimes teams or even in rare cases mages are mentioned by name. It's rare but it does happen once in a while. It's all a matter of gaining experience and impressions on the client. A good word can do wonders. Sometimes you get a nice client who'll cover expenses too." Luna explained recalling a few of her experiences. Also I don't think you'll need to worry about travel, what if I told you, that some jobs took me into outer space? Yeah, I've been to other worlds. Not that they agree with me... But on the other hand if either of you is looking for adventure, there's always work to be done in the east."

Luna thought about any other suggestions before she felt her ilac vibrate underneath her shirt, pulling out the device she checked her messages and found her brother was texting her non stop as to whether or not Emi safelty got to aunt and uncle safely and Luna texted back reassuring him. "Though Remi, if you really want to go solo, I recommend you go west of Hargeon, there's a place called the Neutral Zone, surrounded by a barrier that shuts down magic. Personally can't go there without dying now, otherwise I'd offer to show you myself, but they cellular devices called ilacs, which allow access to lacrima net and can be used for communication. Makes calling for help on jobs much more easier. Not to mention some job boards can be remotely accessed." Luna explained the benefits of the device. "Side from a good partner this is a good tool to start out with, never know when an emergency call could help.

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Remi’s frown momentarily shifted to a smile as he listened to Vali say her piece, mentally agreeing with her about the traveling. It was a wide world and he wanted to see as much as possible. Though when she mentioned the cosplay cafe he very carefully kept his face as blank as possible. His eyes drifted for a brief moment before he snapped back to her face, forcing down any mental images of her in cosplay. Shaking his head he couldn’t help some light teasing as he smirked and flashed her one of his typical charming smiles. “While I question their integrity I can’t fault them for vying for your attention. From my understanding places like that don’t typically attract patrons who know how to act around the fairer sex and a truly exceptional one like you? I bet they spent more time stuttering than talking.”

Listing to the pair discuss jobs and such had Remi wishing he had a notebook of his own. While he was carrying a book it wasn’t something he would be willing to write on. Everything he knew about his magic had been written down in its pages. Far too precious even for sentimental reasons to let it be damaged in any way. While keeping an ear on the briefly took some time to check the group's surroundings, thankful that it would seem people were still giving the three mages more space than was probably necessary. Raising an eyebrow as Luna addressed him again he blinked when he mentioned the neutral zone, a slightly vicious smirk forming on his face as his hand drifted down to the pommel of his blade, lightly tapping it. “I might just do that, though I think it would be doing myself a disservice if I don’t at least check out a guild first. Battered pride aside I doubt the little I know about my magic would be enough for me to risk getting in over my head.”

Glancing down at the Ilac with a conflicted expression for a moment he glances around before lowering his voice just a hair. Both the women in front of him struck him as good people and not taking risks wasn’t going to get him anywhere. Besides, it’s not like someone could be here looking for him just yet. His family’s distrust of those with a lesser standing would actually be a big help there, as they wouldn’t just put a hit out on him. Well most likely wouldn’t. “It’s not for the reason one would think but… I assume there would be ways to track such devices magically? Would I be at the same risk of being tracked without one as with one? I… Didn’t leave home on the best of terms and while I didn’t break any laws someone will come looking eventually.”

WC: 472

Remi's comment brought a broad grin to her face. She loved compliments. "Oh yeah, all the stutters and stares," she agreed, tossing him a playful wink. Valli had a confidence about her that had taken a lot of effort to craft over the years. Not always had she been comfortable in her own skin, but now, she knew what she was working with both inwardly and outwardly. But that didn't mean that her nice read-end hadn't gotten her into some awkward situations, namely the more handsy of the patrons of the niche shop. Nothing she couldn't handle, though. So far, anyway. With the experience she had from just the cafe, she had no intentions of playing someone's girlfriend for a day as a job. That seemed like it was a slippery slope into a career she very much didn't want. She liked her body, but didn't want to sell it!

It wasn't a bad thing, but Luna talked a lot. It was a contrasting, impossible mix of clinical and passionate. She had so many questions, but not about what Luna was actually talking about. Her mind had wandered away from the guild or no guild debate and hung more on the subtle things about Luna as a person. Someone as strong as her had had to work at the cosplay cafe at some point? Well, she supposed everyone was weak and poor at some point, but it was hard to imagine. Secondly, what was the unpleasant experience that caused her to gain all this guildless experience? Valli wasn't so socially awkward that she'd ask basically a stranger something so personal, but she still wondered. Oh, and then the mention of space travel! Valli's eyes grew wide at the thought. Now that would be the biggest adventure of all, and one she could hardly imagine. But if it was possible, now she really, really, really wanted to do it. That was a bucket list item. That would be a heckuva experience for her book, or maybe the next book after that! If she hadn't been forced back home yet...

Remi then offered up a juicy little tidbit. Ah, a charming, bright-eyed boy running away from home for mysterious reasons. Her eyes gleamed, intensely curious, but again being polite and not prying. "Mmmmm...I doubt they make you any more traceable than what a mage could do if paid enough. Besides, they're just handed out for free without taking any information, so unless you give your family your number, I don't think they'd have any way to just find your number and track your phone separately from the millions of other ones. Just stay off Lacbook. Social media trips everyone up, and obviously putting your name and a picture of you out there on the internet is asking to get found. Keep it stealthy and you'll be fiiine. Do you want me to go with you to get one?"

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Luna almost had to stop herself from laughing when Remi brought up the idea of being tracked for ilac, however as the humor faded she started to realize how inexperienced the foreign man was in regards to magic and some of the more common applications. "Remi, I don't play this card often but I am a Goddess Slayer and a Nature Fae, staying so close by me this long has already given someone like me many different ways to track you from distances you probably can't even know I'm following you. Like Valentina said, numbers are not disclosed unless you disclose them, so having an ilac doesn't make you more or less at risk of being traced, and if someone truly wanted to chase you down, there are plenty of ways." Luna informed Remi casually as she was trying to determine how much experience Remi had in the field of adventuring. She hoped that Remi would gain experience without the cost of something dire, like an eye, a limb, or worse before they would meet again. "There's only one person in this world who I know is untraceable, so much so that she escapes divination itself, and her skills are refined, taking years, decades to perfect. I'd give up on trying to never be traced and resolve to be vigilant. As long as you don't post your location in places you can't risk being found in at the time you'll be fine."

Luna looked around before she pointed westward. "So if you still want to go, you'll find passage through a caravan or horse drawn carriage, magical vehicles don't work in the neutral zone otherwise I'd offer to take you myself, or at the very least as far as I could but that's the border. Unless you two wanna spend a few days walking without your magic." Luna explained, trying to help out the pair with directions. Luna already made it clear she was not going anywhere near the Neutral Grounds mostly to avoid danger to her own health. "Though you should watch yourself, resident law breakers enjoy praying on seemingly defenseless mages. Nearly got beaten into a coma when I went there- before my heart became a magical organ naturally." She warned the two, recalling her own experience getting an ilac.

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Flashing Vali a quick smirk at her response to his slightly flirty remark he, in turn, blinks when she offers to accompany him to get something he had never even seen before getting off the ship. Nodding gratefully to the woman he gave her a warm smile. "That would be wonderful, thank you so much for the offer, perhaps I could treat you to lunch as thanks?" Turning his attention to Luna he blinks when she explains things to him, a frown forming on his face as she went along. Clenching his fist momentarily he mutters out just loud enough to hear as he glances down at his feet. "Je savais que c'était trop facile, putain!"

Politely turning his full attention back to luna he gave the pink-haired mage an apologetic smile as she spoke of the so-called neutral zone. Personally, he suspected it was anything but, as it sounded like the perfect place for foolish cures to prey on the masses. Metally spiting at the thought of them Remi smirked as he thought about running into them in a zone where no magic could come into play, truly it would be worth it later on just to make sure his skills were still sharp. Tapping his finger on the pommel of his sword he chuckled softly at the woman's warning, happy his guess wasn't too far off the mark. "I appreciate the warning and I am certain I will check it out at some point. While I will be the first to admit I am new to magic I have been training with swords since I was a boy. Against poorly trained curs? I am not one to brag but it wouldn't even be an enjoyable challenge."

Removing his hand from his blade Remi glanced between the two women again before deciding his pride wasn't worth any potential advice he could get. He might be more stubborn if someone tried to criticize his sword skills but when it comes to his magic he has no such hangups. "Speaking of... What would be my best bet to finding more about a somewhat obscure kind of magic? I could only find one book about it in my homeland, though admittedly I couldn't openly look for one. All I really know about it is that it's called Storm and well things a blind fool can figure out."

WC: 396

Was that Minstrelois? The change in language grabbed Valli's full attention, drawing her gaze with keen intrigue. She felt almost like a little kid again. She'd been around six when the family moved from Enca to Ca-Elum. Starting school had been so interesting, hearing a language she didn't know. It was scary too, but mostly just interesting. Though she was completely bi-lingual now, hearing unfamiliar tongues still snapped up her attention and filled her with nostalgia. It was also really nice to listen to. She wondered what he said, but didn't ask.

Once more listening to Luna give advice from her experiences, Valentina followed up with her own, since she'd been there as well. Their experiences seemed quite different, but it was worth mentioning. "That sounds awful, Luna! No one bothered me when I went to get one, so either I'm good luck or I look like I could beat them up," Valli grinned, playfully fake punching the air. Intimidation wasn't something she particularly excelled at, though she wouldn't mind picking up the skill one day when she was stronger and could back it up. Not that she didn't have a decent amount of fighting skills from having so many siblings as well as their non-wine-related activities, but it'd be nice to maybe have a spell that looked like it could atomize someone as she glowered...or something. "Don't worry, Remi, I'll protect you. I took a small steam engine train right in, and other than realizing how used to using magic I am, I had a nice time in the city. It's like a Little Bosco, kinda techy. Lots of shops and cafes."

The conversation moved on to something that really struck a chord with the young adventurer. "Oh! Oh, I heard about a place recently, Remi!" she piped up, unusually vocal in her excitement. It was somewhere she really wanted to go. It was at the top of her list of places to visit since she dearly loved magic and was always willing to learn. "What was it....something about robles..." she wondered aloud, opening her notebook and thumbing through the pages for where she'd written it. "Oak Town! That's it. Sounds so normal, but this guy at a coffee shop in Talonia told me there's a huge library there full of books on magic. He said it was the best of the best! We should go there, too." Perhaps she was ahead of herself, making plans with this strange man named Remi from Minstrel or Napedia, but stories were never interesting if there wasn't a little impulsiveness. A little risk. Her water magic was strong enough to drown him if she needed to, surely.

[wc: 445 || new total: 947]