A Chance Meeting [Private; Vivian, Sonya, and Kaseki]

Vivian wandered through the forest, humming to herself as the midday sunlight filtered through the trees. There had been a lot of commotion in her life lately; joining a new guild, and meeting all of the strange people within (as well as some others outside of the guild), had drained a lot of her energy. Here was where she loved to come and recharge; it was a relatively tranquil forest, with a town near enough that one could always leave and enjoy civilization for a while. Even Vi had to agree that this was relaxing; she wasn't talking, which was usually a good sign. Of course, this place was somewhat important for their memories as well; most of her childhood had been spent in a forest much like this. Overall, this forest was a very relaxing and cathartic experience...for the most part. Hearing some commotion ahead, Vivian made her way through the trees, wondering what the cause of it could be.

"I KNOW YOU'RE THERE... I THINK..." Kaseki yelled into the trees.

He was waiting for his friend to arrive, or rather, his daughter to come save him. It had been days without sleep and Kaseki was growing weary.

"DON'T MAKE ME USE MY MAGIC, YOU WON'T LIKE ME WHEN I USE MY MAGIC."

It had become a rarity for Yuna to leave the ship, but the day was going by slow and there was not much to do. Also, in truth, Yuna needed time on the ground where earth and flora were plentiful. She was a part of the earth after all, not only through herself, being a nature fairy, but also of her magic. She had set up a father-daughter bonding time with Kaseki and was rushing over there. She would have teleported through the use of the danger room, but she much preferred the rush of the wind against her face. She arrived at the forest just in time to hear Kaseki yelling at some trees. She tilted her head curiously and looked around. Het sharp senses caught slight movement and her mark seemed to tingle slightly alerting her of a Nox member. "Dad!" Yuna called out to her father, moving aside the thoughts of another member being there. "I-I missed you..!" Yuna had undergone an enormous change under the period of a short few days. It was impossible not to notice her maturity. Still, she was very much her youthful, and happy self. "H-How are you?" She turned slightly towards the trees giving off a soft smile, "Um... Hello..?" She callef out. Although she knew it was a Nox member, she didn't know which one. "Y-You can come out now..."

Vivian watched behind the trees, hiding carefully. The tree-man she had met once before was yelling at...her? Something random? Either way, it was somewhat unsettling; the threat of magic was even moreso. She certainly didn't want to reveal herself to him in that mood; he might attack her or think she was following him, regardless of the fact that neither was true. The girl, however, sent a shiver down her spine. She gave off an incredibly intimidating aura; she was a powerful mage. Not to mention, Vivian had seen her somewhere before...
Wait. The New Guildmaster posters that had been up all around Noximus? THAT was her guildmaster? And her father was the tree-person? Vivian was now confused and frightened. Her guildmaster, a fairy who could likely snap her like a twig, and the tree-man, a strange figure who Vivian couldn't figure out for the life of her. What was she supposed to do?
"Um... Hello..? Y-You can come out now..."
Vivian froze. Was the Guildmaster referring to her? Was she going to be punished for this? Either way, it was probably best to get out there as soon as possible; she didn't want to keep the guildmaster waiting. She stepped out from behind the trees, bowing and brushing profusely. "H-hello, Guildmaster and...K-Kaseki, I think? I-I'm sorry! I d-didn't mean to intrude!"

Kaseki looked upon the girl with haste. His eyes full of rage and terror, with a hint of death. "YOU." Kaseki said, "The pact mage... You seek power, yes?"

Kaseki held onto his scroll of learning behind his back. It was the scroll that fed Kaseki knowledge. With it, he understood more things than anyone... and with that, was the cost of his sanity. He stared at the girl looking her into her eyes.

"Either we make you stronger, or someone is sure to kill you later on."

Kaseki was going mad. Nothing he said seemed to make sense.

Yuna fluttered her wings uncertainly for she was becoming quite unsettled by Kaseki's odd behavior. Every time she saw him holding the scroll, it seemed as if he was loosing his mind. "Vivian," Yuna said waving away the thoughts as she turned to her guildmate with a smile. "W-Would you like to join us..?"] She turned to Kaseki with a furrow of her eyebrows. What did he mean about pacts? "P-Pacts..?" She asked curiously at the both of them. Wh-What do you mean..?"[/color][/color]

Vivian stepped back again as Kaseki roared. This certainly wasn't the man she had met at the tavern before. That one had been kind, if not a little eccentric and pushy; this one seemed completely off-kilter. Still, he was likely the same person, and he had said that he would give her Pacts, so she would take it. "Um, th-thank you for offering!" She said, coming closer with Yuna's invitation. "P-Pacts are how I get stronger," she explained to Yuna as she rummaged through her bag for the Pactbook. "When I m-make them with others, I g-gain the ability to use some of their p-powers." She pulled out the book, smiling nervously at Yuna. "W-would you like to help as well? All you n-need is some blood and a few f-facts about yourself."

Kaseki gave a slight tilt of his head, much like a young pup hearing the word 'treat' for the first time. He looked at the girl with his demonic crimson eyes. He quickly pulled out a small dagger from his waist and gave a long and large cut on the inside of his left forearm. "You will find that i do not bleed," said Kaseki, "However... I emit another material."

A faint smoke, or fog rather, poured into the air from the cut. It was wispy and seemed to have a life of it's own.

"I offer the gift of water. With it, you can choose to heal. May you have a flowing motion." He sliced again at the same wound, "I also offer you the gift of ice. With it you may freeze your enemies and strike a cold fear into them." He smiled as the smoke began to cloud up.

"I am Kaseki, the Demon of Life. And I have offered my sanity for this skill."

It was Vivian who answered her question. "When I m-make them with others, I g-gain the ability to use some of their p-powers." The nature fairy watched curiously as Vivian pulled out a book all the while smiling nervously. "W-would you like to help as well? All you n-need is some blood and a few f-facts about yourself." Yuna nodded slowly and a bit unsure. She wasn't fond of blood, but to help a fellow mage, a teammate at that, she would put aside her dislike. "U-Um..." She said nervously as she looked up at Kaseki after he had offered his magic, "May I..?" She then frowned and decided to instead use the earth. She formed it into a temporary dagger for the occasion. "Wh-what do you need to know..?" she asked Vivian before wincing as making a small cut. "A few facts a-about me or my magic..?"

Vivian backed away nervously from Kaseki's seeming insanity. This man had been much nicer, she decided, when they had met at the tavern a short while ago. Still, she needed the power; and that meant dealing with the insanity, at least for now. Vivian opened her bag and pulled out a tome, while nodded appreciatively at Sonya; while Kaseki was not likely to respond at the moment, at least her guildmaster could always be trusted. "Th-thank you," she muttered as she pulled out a stainless steel knife from a sheath at her hip and opened the book to a fresh page. 

She started to say something more, but was silenced by Kaseki's fog-blood-thing flowing over to the page, making an imprint so that Vivian could use it. After staring in silence for a few moments, she resumed her work silently, cutting her own finger with the steel knife so that she could add her own blood to the ritual. She smeared the blood on both Kaseki's page and a blank page, then motioned Sonya over. "P-put your blood here, p-please," she stammered, pointing to the section opposite her smear on the blank page. With that, she turned and began her ritual on Kaseki's page.

Yuna nodded weakly to Vivian as she placed her blood on the page. Although she was a bit uneasy with the sight of blood, even just small drops of it, she was curious as to what her fellow guildmember would do with it. She was even more so curious as to the ritual Vivian was performing for she had never seen something of the sort before. Yuna glanced up at Kaseki wondering if he had seen something like this in the past before turning her full attention to Vivian and awaiting patiently for her to finish her ritual.

Kaseki's eyes watched the girls. He had nothing more to say. She would take his powers just as others have done before. The difference was the offering of blood.

He was curious, as Yuna was, as to what would be come of it. Surely it would surprise him. Kaseki did always hate surprises.

Vivian didn't react as Sonya placed her blood onto the page, already being deep into Kaseki's ritual. A small magic circle lay above the page, engraving a special design into the page. After a few minutes, the design was finished, and the magic circle closed as Vivian opened her eyes. She was panting slightly; forming a Pact using...strange blood was always a little more taxing. She couldn't focus on that right now, though; for now, she had another one to perform. 

She turned and gave Sonya a grateful smile before setting into the second ritual, the same magic circle and pattern engraving itself onto the other page. After a few minutes, Vivian opened her eyes, panting heavily; the other Pact had drained her more than she had expected. Subconsciously, she began tapping into one of the new Pacts in order to sustain herself, her legs turning to a lesser version of Kaseki's Ironbark in order to support herself. "Th-thank you," she said to both of them, smiling weakly. "This m-means a lot to me." After a few seconds of silence, she continued, "S-so, can you both t-tell me a little bit about yourselves? Either y-you or your m-magic. I-It'll help p-power up the Pacts."

"I got my magic from a massive Lion Turtle, a mythical creature. I found the Lion Turtle of the South Waters. With it, I found the power of ice and water." Kaseki said, "I found the energy in my water, and used it to heal, to duplicate myself, as well as store it in my body." He looked at the girl, "This is something you cannot do. Instead, you will have to carry a gourd or a pouch."

Kaseki felt like that was all that needed to be said. He wanted the day to end. We was ready for a nap.

Yuna blinked and wondered what she would say. Her past, she knew nothing about so she settled on talking about her earth magic. Even then, she wouldn't be good at explaining it. "U-Um... An earth g-ghoul taught me the ways of an earth demon slayer," Yuna said with a smile, "H-He was really nice. I eat earth in order to tap into s-something called the Demon Force... I-I don't know if you have it..?" She thought for a bit. Now about herself. "I'm an earth fairy... a nature spirit... I-I'm the Guildmaster of Nox Animus and I-I collect stuffed animals?" Yuna wasn't sure if the information was needed or even useful. "I-Is that all..?" she asked curiously.