Sinktank [re-intro / open]

The first thing Althea did after returning from the Aetherial Wastes, a separate dimension for spirits such as herself, was to come right back to Magnolia. She couldn’t really pinpoint the reason why. Did she really just have nowhere else to go?  Maybe her feet led her back to these familiar streets in search of something warm, something nostalgic?  During her time alone, she never once contemplated what she’d do if she made it out of the dimension of void, it was always more of a concern whether she’d ever leave in the first place. It took all her emotional and physical energy just to continue the hopeless trek through the pale void, and she still wasn’t quite sure of the mechanics behind her return. A black rift split open in the emptiness, so the aetherial just stepped right in. Althea was half expecting to enter some other form of eternal torture, but no. A vibrant blue sky greeted her, a cradle of wispy white clouds embracing the yellow Earthland sun. It was the same as she remembered, but her visage underneath that familiar sky was far from the same.

Any hint of her previous childlike countenance was gone. She used to be a young girl on the verge of pubescence, but here Althea was, a fully mature young woman. Her blonde hair was the same, albeit much shorter. Meanwhile, her sometimes red, sometimes blue eyes had settled into a desaturated amber color. Thankfully, she hadn't run into any of the few other residents of the Wastes for a very long time, so any battle injuries had long since healed. Her attire was a bit worn and tattered, but thankfully it wasn’t to a degree that was too out of the ordinary.

Really, nothing was stopping Althea from immediately bursting right back into Fairy Tail and announcing her presence. But something about that idea… she wasn’t quite ready for it yet. The aetherial had quickly arrived in Magnolia via a few concurrent transportation spells with the sky still a clear blue. However, now the yellow sun was disappearing behind the dark silhouettes of Magnolia's townhouses. Meanwhile, Althea had spent her time sitting on top of the tallest building she could find, doing her best to not be noticed by any of the pedestrians below. It was situated on the complete opposite side of Magnolia from the Fairy Tail guild hall, and she was doing her best to suppress any hint of her magical energy. How meek. Was the sight of people after so long really that stunning?  If it was just a few years ago, the aetherial would’ve been able to disregard any apprehension and stride right back in. She would’ve been grinning from ear to ear, brushing off her lengthy disappearance with a few light-hearted words. But Althea then and Althea now were very different. Perhaps that was one of the reasons for her hesitation. She wasn’t prepared to accept that she changed, and she also didn’t want her former colleagues to confront her about it.

“Ha.”

She couldn’t help but let out a soft laugh. Her concerns were so pathetic, and she had already wasted more than enough time. Watching the residents of Magnolia go about their daily lives just made her want to go to the guild hall even less. If Althea sat around for any longer, she’d completely lose her nerve. And who knows?  Maybe the guild hall wasn’t even open, she could just turn right back around and leave Magnolia forever for some newer pastures. And so, she discreetly scaled down the building on which she was perched and began making her way to her old guild. But as Althea approached, a small lump began to form in her throat.

“...Right, Elysium.”  She muttered under her breath as she hurriedly collected herself. Althea already knew that Fairy Tail was renovating the guild hall after the old one was decimated by a group of dark mages. However, the aetherial was still half expecting to see the same office building as when she first joined the guild as a young girl fresh from the boonies.

As Althea got closer, her half-hearted hopes of the guild hall somehow being closed were dashed. Letting out a sigh, she stiffly opened the doors and walked inside, straightening out any expression on her face. But this is where the young woman ran into her first real roadblock. How was she meant to rejoin the guild…?  When she first arrived at Fairy Tail, someone just walked right up to her, stamped her with a guild mark, and boom, she was in. In any subsequent instances of her accepting someone into the guild, she did much the same. Should she take a similar approach?  But what if she ended up meeting someone who knew her before?  Well, it was a bit too late to be worrying about that at this point, Althea just walked right into the place she spent 99% of her free time in the past. The guild's interior didn’t help, she couldn’t help but compare it to the one in her memories. So, unable to decide if she wanted someone to notice or not, the aetherial dazedly stood right in the middle of the room.

Frankly speaking, Althea found herself more than a bit overwhelmed by the new Fairy Tail. However, her dazed probing of the new interior was interrupted by the approach of an unfamiliar man from the bar. Immediately, she was overcome with a huge sense of relief that at least one thing hadn’t changed. Standing around the guild hall while looking confused still led to people approaching you with answers to your questions. She didn’t really recognize any of the clients or guild members populating the room, but she wasn’t in much of a mood to go around searching for someone who could simply let her into the guild. However, upon seeing the man in gi’s face, her eyes widened and she noticeably flinched. Well, maybe it wasn’t who she thought it was. What were the chances of someone getting an identical guild mark as her former mentor, Mura?  Same color, maybe. But the same place?  Less likely… but still plausible. This guy looked nothing like the Mura she remembered, so she was more inclined to believe that forehead tattoos were just in fashion now.

However, any of Althea’s misplaced hopes were dashed the moment the man spoke. That whole ‘Master of Dragons’ thing happened so long ago that she only just remembered it after he brought it up, and the only person who could possibly know to make a reference to it was…

“Sen—…  Master.”  Althea caught herself before the Midian word ‘senpai’ could escape her mouth. She had been using it as a term of endearment for the other mage for a very long time, but something about still using it felt wrong now. Instead, the spirit opted for ‘master,’ a more distant and vague title. It acknowledged their previous student-master relationship, but it could also be seen as just an abbreviated version of ‘guild master.’

“It’s been a while... I’m not a dragon slayer anymore, but hi.”  Well, maybe it had been more than just ‘a while’ for him. The complete departure from his previous boyish frame and the new left arm was physical proof that a lot of time had elapsed, and Althea struggled to keep her disorganized thoughts from showing on her face. The prosthetic arm was nothing more than proof of Mura’s fortitude in the face of setbacks, and Althea had always considered major scars and injuries as proof of experience and competency. But as for the other parts… she couldn’t help but be shocked. He was one of the last people Althea anticipated having a different appearance. The spirit assumed Mura was already done growing, but apparently not. Wasn’t he in his 30’s before?  How old was he when he got married?  Was Mura just a really late bloomer?  Well, at least now he actually looked as old as she imagined him to be.

Althea came into the guild hall expecting a lot of things: a new guild mark to replace the one that had long faded away, maybe some encounters with new and old faces, but one thing she hadn’t expected was to be greeted with this amount of… warmth. The only thing was that when Mura gave her a huge hug, he also took the opportunity to immediately broadcast her return to the entire guild. Any hopes of quietly getting stamped and leaving were completely dashed when the entire bar practically exploded with commotion. As she was being swung through the air, she couldn’t help but feel a bit embarrassed at still being given the same care and attention she had as a child.

She was soon placed back on the ground, but that didn’t end the barrage of questions from the other guild-goers. However, her former mentor asked one she couldn’t help but be perplexed by. Magic? Stolen? Tilting her head about 30 degrees to the side, one eyebrow on her otherwise stony face raised, she took a moment to process a response. Mura’s display of cold, icy anger didn’t help with her confusion either. Had she ever seen him get angry before? Annoyed, probably, but this was something new to her.

“No. That’s not it.” She finally responded, “I didn’t have one of those lacrima things. The knowledge of how to use the slayer magic is all stored in my head. I just stopped using it.” After all, her water dragon slayer served more so as a vehicle to stabilize her magic circuits, but that was no longer necessary after she became a full-fledged spirit. “It’d be difficult to demonstrate right now due to a few things, but I’m confident that I’ve only gotten stronger since the last time we met.” Although the blonde was much less emotive than before, her amber eyes held a strong conviction to go along with her words. “Either way, I’m here to rejoin the guild… sorry for suddenly disappearing for so long.”

Soon after Althea clarified the situation, the rage from Mura that she found so unfamiliar quickly dissipated. It was a bit dazing–being faced with someone who cared as much as he did. She had entered the guild hall with trepidation, steeled by her afternoon of introspection. However, now that she was talking with her old mentor, she realized that many of her already pathetic worries were, even worse, unfounded. Fairy Tail’s guild hall had changed, but its essence remained the same: The people idly drinking at the bar, the warm and friendly bustle; they were still the same people who gladly accepted a clueless girl from the wilderness, primed for nothing more than survival and adventure. She should’ve already known that she would be met with the same warm embrace as she’d been wrenched away from. And yet, Althea had already come to regret returning.

The spirit must have already half anticipated this situation, some part of her had already come to a cool, rational conclusion in the trenches of her heart. But the reboant wails for the place she cherished led her feet before her head could catch up. It wasn’t the guild or its people changing that was the issue, it was her. Althea was no longer someone who sought the acceptance or comradery of others. In fact, she had come to reject it. Meanwhile, Fairy Tail was too inviting. Too comforting. A crutch begging for her to once again support herself. One that could be just as easily torn away from her in a simple yet irrevocable sequence of cause and effect. But despite her inclinations… Mura thought she may have died. He was worried about her and got angry at the notion of someone hurting her. And he was the first to welcome her home after she spent so long with no such thing. Althea's chest ached and her eyes stung, her hands numb and thoughts muddled. Still, her expression was like stone. Strong, and resolute in her decision. Unmoving and unflinching, just as she always strove to be. A tender heart could never be tolerated in her path toward ‘the pinnacle of strength.’

Taking in a deep breath, the spirit loosened her posture, any displays of emotion fading into cold indifference. “Yes. I’m back.” She droned plainly. Another familiar face soon appeared–the same ghostly presence she remembered often accompanying Mura. Althea met Kyuken’s inspection with a silent stare, unable to come up with any arguments to justify her claimed identity. The only commonality between her current and former appearance was her blonde hair, and she didn’t even wield the same magic. Suspicion was warranted. However, as the conversation shifted to the topic of her guild mark, the spirit’s gaze drifted to the back of her hand. She wasn’t sure exactly when it had faded so dramatically, but apparently, there was a way to restore it to its previous state. Honestly, all she wanted at this point was to get this whole reunion over with, but it couldn’t be helped. Without saying a word, Althea simply nodded before following Mura deeper into the guild hall.

Finally, she entered an unfamiliar room, likely one of the many new additions to Fairy Tail erected during her absence. The spirit wasn’t sure what sort of procedure she’d undergo here, but it wasn’t like there was any form of imminent danger for her. Well, that is if you didn’t classify questions as anything dangerous. Althea disliked the idea of revealing too much sensitive information about herself, but it would be excessively cautious to take measures against even the likes of Mura.

“It’s unnecessary. I know it, but my physiology has changed enough that I can’t use it properly. I am very proficient with my current magic. Different tool, same result.” She replied plainly, her eyes drifting around the room, carefully inspecting her simple surroundings. Her body had changed beyond her simple outward appearance, so it was necessary to use magic that suited her as she was now. However, upon hearing Mura’s next question, she couldn’t help but retrain her amber eyes on her former mentor. It was a long story, too long for her to ever disclose in a single sitting. So, taking a moment to think before letting out a sigh, she began to speak in a steady, stoic tone. “I was a weak, deformed, faulty, sorry excuse for a spirit. I got strong enough to go from a ‘pseudo-spirit’ to a full-fledged one. I needed to go to the spirit realm for a while. I’m back. That’s all.”