Opening A New Chapter

Akira didn’t expect too much going into the guild hall for the Luminous Rose. Bearing a piece of paper in a small satchel and carrying a book of personally-written notes in his one hand, he pushed his way through the doorway into the large building. Given the standing of Luminous Rose, there must be a wealth of knowledge and magic hidden within their bindings. It was definitely something that excited him about being a part of one of the officially-regulated guilds as well, according to the pamphlets that littered the world at large.

He had no idea who to talk to though; he was walking into the hall a simple initiate with no clue of whom to see about fully installing himself as a member of the guild, even though he already bore the insignia of Luminous Rose upon his body. Akira just made his way to a table, sat down and read through his notes, not having a sense of what to do except be a stranger in a strange room.

(WC 172)

Wearing her usual casual outfit of gray long-sleeved shirt, long white pleated skirt, and brown boots despite having bought more clothing less than a month ago, Lucia walked through Luminous Rose Guild Hall at a leisurely pace. She was going to go the guild job board to look for a job that needed doing, but she was not sure which job she wanted to take yet. She would take her time and peruse the job board until she was sure that she had seen every job available, then pick the job that was most interesting to her.

Lucia walked through the guild hall and stopped when she happened to detect a magic signature in the area. She followed it and eventually spotted a well-dressed dark-haired fellow sitting at a table and reading something of interest to him. The blonde was not sure what he was reading and it was none of her business. However, something compelled her to walk over to him and at least introduce herself.

Lucia slowly walked over to the seated dark-haired fellow and stopped at the right side of the table. She delayed speaking until she came up with the right words to say, then once she had them spoke to the seated person.

"Hi there. I'm Lucia Winchester." Lucia calmly introduced herself to the fellow she had never seen before today.

[Post Word Count: 226]
[Lucia's Word Count: 226]

Another job was successfully concluded, and while Nita was not particularly crazy about the fact that she was slowly beginning to get popular, it was quite nice to have that understanding that people out there would begin to take notice of her presence in Fiore; those who wanted to live in peace, as well as fellow servants of the Light, would have a new figure that they could trust to join the fight against evil. Those who served the darkness would see her as a threat, something she was quite pleased about. Such people with their mindless abuse of power and lack of regard for others  needed to be reminded time and again that there were people that could make them fear. In any case, the Pergrandian was in a good mood, and her lighthearted steps showed it.

Normally, Nita, despite her apparent ebullience, would teleport to and from the site of missions, with her room as her hub and office space. But she had realized that this meant that despite being around for a little bit, she did not know every member of the guild as well as she would have liked. For this reason, she had decided to walk into the guild like a normal person, and interact with whomever she found. As she entered the main hall, she saw two people; one, a man, was seated at a table, with papers in his hands, a sign that he was either reading from them, or recording something. Nita had no idea who he was. The other was a blonde lady standing; from her body posture she seemed to be talking with the seated fellow. Nita knew her, simply because she was a fellow guild mate (and Nita had a habit of trying to keep tabs on the guild's members), but the two had never really interacted before. It was time to rectify this error.

The two mages would suddenly notice the black clad young woman appear out of thin air, positioned so that she could face both of them when she spoke. Oh, she also appeared sitting down, her elbows resting on the table and her hands underneath her chin, supporting the weight of her head. She smiled brightly at the two of them. "Hi, Lucia! How are you doing? Hi, Guy-with-the-notes! I'm Ms. Fortune, but I'm not bad luck." She smiled even brighter at the use of her name's pun. "Call me Nita, though. First time to Luminous Rose?" she didn't want to directly ask what his business was. Some people could find that rude. So, small talk, which was not disagreeable, would be the way.

Akira didn’t expect to be greeted at all, let alone by two women. He looks to the woman who introduced herself as Lucia first, knowing to answer her first, just out of courtesy since she introduced herself first.

“I... I’m Akira,” he stammers slightly, taken aback a bit. “Yes, Nita and Lucia, this is my first time here. I am the newest initiate to Luminous Rose; I hope I’m not intruding in any way. And these are just notes. I’m a bit of a studier when it comes to my magic, since it has its applications.”

Of course, he didn’t want to spoil too many secrets about his magical abilities, because he didn’t know if or when they were to become rivals or even enemies. He knew anything was possible with how the world works, and he felt safest keeping to himself for the most part. He only practised as much as he needed to, in terms of interaction with others, but the opposite sex still eluded him with great mysticism.

And these two were extremely easy to keep an eye on.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you both,” he says, almost as an afterthought, mostly because of he was distracted by having the first bit of properly friendly contact since he arrived.

(213/385)

Lucia listened to the dark-haired fellow's introduction and learned that his name was Akira and he was a new arrival to Luminous Rose. He was also studying notes on his magic, which was something Lucia found a bit odd but ultimately let pass without comment. What he did was none of her business anyway.

"Hi Akira. Welcome to Luminous Rose." Lucia greeted the black-haired fellow using his name now that she knew it. She was about to say more when another blonde mage dressed in black suddenly appeared and greeted them both, momentarily startling Lucia with her unexpected arrival. The young woman's name was "Ms. Fortune" and Lucia was quick to note the pun that Nita had made on her name. This was the first time she had ever seen Nita, but the latter greeted Lucia like they were old friends. Lucia did not mind, though.

"Hi Nita. I don't think we've met before today." Lucia casually greeted the other blonde with the same cheer with which she had greeted Akira and noted that as far as she knew this was their first meeting. Lucia noticed that Nita was considerably stronger than herself and felt a little alarmed by the power gap, but it did not show on her face. Everyone progressed at their own level and one day Lucia would catch up to Nita so that the former could really begin to pull her weight as a member of Luminous Rose.

[Post Word Count: 242]
[Lucia's Word Count: 468]

Nita had to chuckle at Akira's statement about not intruding. "Well, this isn't my room, so I don't see how you'd be guilty of intrusion." Nita felt curious as to what sort of magic this fellow used, but she decided not to pile him with questions. He didn't seem to be the talkative sort, and Nita was unwilling to make the newest guild member uncomfortable. "Ah, we have a scholar!" she said instead. "I do my fair share of magic study, so we can compare notes if and when you're not busy."

Nita shook her head in response to Lucia's statement. "No, we haven't. But I have the habit of keeping tabs on guild members." She turned to Akira, suddenly aware that there might be some weird connotations to that last statement. "Don't worry, I'm not a stalker," she said, holding up her hands. "I'm a bit of a curious one though, so I do like to know at least a little about those with whom I share my guild symbol. But nothing beats interpersonal interactions. It's also wise to know who to play tricks on, without risking the threat of a cosmic calamity." The Pergrandian leaned back and gave a little laugh.

"I'm very sure you'll like it here, Akira. And despite the size of this place, I'm sure with a little help, you'll be able to find your way around easily. Don't know whether you've met the guild leader or any of the Aces; I suppose they'll be in the best position to give you a tour of this facility, should you be free and willing. I could give you the tour, but my offer comes with a caveat: the likelihood of both of us getting lost is incredibly high."

Akira remained calm as they spoke to and around him, stoically and slowly closing his notebook with a solemn sigh. He nods to Lucia at her welcome and shoots her a quick grin, thanking her under his breath. He continues to sit in on the ladies’ conversation until Nita offers to take him on a tour of the guild hall. It was an interesting idea, especially since he knew that it would have to happen eventually, whether or not he was to become the victim of a prank or not, according to Nita of course, without causing, as she put it, a cosmic calamity.

“Actually,” Akira says, looking to Nita, “I have only actually met you and Lucia, so I’m more than willing to take a tour, even if the likelihood of being lost in this grand building is worth the time, because the wandering will be enough to learn all I can about where I am as well.”

(159/544)

Lucia could not help but to feel a little concerned when she heard Nita's admission that the latter kept an eye on fellow guild members. That was not something that she wanted to hear from a fellow guild member, but Nita's honesty was welcome. At least Lucia knew where she stood with the other blonde.

Lucia listened to the other blonde talk a little further and learned that Nita had a proclivity for playing tricks on fellow Luminous Rose members. Lucia also learned that Nita picked her targets carefully so that should the target take umbrage to being the target of tricks the potential backlash would not be life-threatening. Again Lucia chose to let something she found odd pass without comment and instead listened to Nita talk to Akira. Ultimately the other blonde offered to guide the dark-haired fellow on a tour of Luminous Rose Guild Hall.

Akira declared his intent to take Nita up on her offer. Moments later Lucia's face turned red in embarrassment. She did not know the guild hall very well because she was always in and out for work and the only places she really knew the location of was her room and the entrance to the guild hall. That problem compelled her to speak up.

"If you two don't mind, I'd like to tag along for the tour as well. I don't know very much about the layout of the guild hall either, so please don't expect me to get us out of trouble if we get lost." The red-faced Lucia admitted her lack of knowledge to Nita and Akira and requested to tag along on the tour... if they had no objection to it, of course. If they did not mind her presence she would readily join them. If they did not want her there she would gladly go elsewhere and let the two mages go about the tour in peace.

[Post Word Count: 318]
[Lucia's Word Count: 786]

It seemed, to Nita's hidden surprise, that Akira was eager to embark on the tour that Nita had offered him. Frankly, she was expecting him to be a bit less willing, with the rather real threat of getting lost looming over him and his tour guide. But perhaps the biggest surprise came when Lucia asked if she could join the unofficial tour party. Well, there was the saying that went, 'the more, the merrier'. It applied most certainly in this case. "Splendid!" the blonde mage said happily, clapping her hands together. "Don't worry about us getting irrevocably lost. I have a failsafe to deal with that, should it happen. Well, in the absence of any further delays, let's be off!"

Of course, the best place to start was where they were, the Grand Hall of Legends. "This is the guild's common area, the Grand Hall of Legends," Nita proclaimed, sweeping her hands around to indicate the impressive hall in which the three mages presently sat. "This is where guild members can use as a general space, and probably even entertain guests. While I do feel the throne and statues are a teeny weeny little bit grandiose, I have discovered that the statues offer excellent hiding places from which the business of stalking-- ahem, observing guild activities can be carried out. Guild meetings are also held here." The Pergrandian mage rose to her feet and gestured. "Shall we sally forth?"