Troubles with the Dark [Ava/Nines]

by **Atrum Furea** Wed Sep 10, 2014 11:43 pm

Atrum bit into the pork chop as he waited for his supposed back up to arrive as he stared from the roof oh the Crossroads out onto the streets keeping an eye out for suspicious behavior in the people below. He tore another piece off his meal and debated moving on without the others, on the one hand he could get a jump on those they were looking for on the other hand Ranor was very insistent on him having assistance for this mission. The tavern had given him some food while he waited and told him they would inform his back up when they arrived that he could be found upon the roof. Convenient, and appreciated, he was bored being unable to do anything of value though. He almost frowned to himself before finding that someone was acting pretty strangely for an average person on the streets. It was a young man, probably around his late teens or early twenties, watching the area intently the other alleyways and people in the street. Either this man was hilariously paranoid or he was up to something and therefore hilariously paranoid. He wasn't looking up though few people looked up in this country, maybe it was because they often didn't need to, a pleasant thought to be honest.

"Hmm you sure seem shifty. Let us see what you are up to." Atrum said his smile widening as he tossed the pork piece into his mouth bones and all crunching on the food happily. At the very least he could entertain himself by keeping an eye on this man, if he was lucky this guy would lead him to the fledgling dark guild hidden in this town. he cracked his knuckles and stretched as he watched the man seemingly refusing to move from his spot. The Giants grinned as he saw why the man had refused to move, another man had arrived from a nearby alleyway. Looks like Atrum had stumbled upon something after all. The giant stood up and began stalking across the rooftops, watching the pair as they avoided the busy streets and kept to the back alleys. The Northerner snorted amused, amateurs, acting suspicious only made you stand out. If you really wanted to hide something you simply hide it and acted like normal. No one notices normal. "This should be amusing."

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by **Ava Brooks** Thu Sep 11, 2014 3:54 pm

The most surprising thing had happened to Ava that morning. She had agreed to go to Magnolia and help with a Fairy Tail job. She was not a fighter, but she was happy to do something to help her guild, or people in general. She was fond of Magnolia, although she did not have any real fondness for Fairy Tail. She had a friend there. A strange young woman who she exchanged letters with frequently. Ava was going to do her best for this job, even happier to do anything Daedalus thought was best, since Taki had disappeared. Still, that wasn’t the surprising thing. The surprising thing had come from another member of Lamia Scale.

The awkward older girl had wandered over to Ava and given her a small piece of cloth, wrapped around an object. Mumbling something about being bad wrapping presents, and then seemed to hope to shuffle off before Ava could open her present. She didn’t imagine she would be that touched by the present, but it was a nice gesture. When she pulled back the fabric and saw gold she was confused. Soon it became evident as a gold key. Her gold key. Not a silver key, not a key that she shared with any summoner with enough money to buy it… but… her key. In a surprising fit of emotion Ava had hugged Ren. Ren was of course mortified, but eventually she was let free and wandered off. Ava started crying, and summoned her key on the way to Magnolia.

Virgo was a pretty pink haired woman in a maid’s outfit initially, but she soon shifted into something more suited to Ava. She looked to be a young girl with short pink hair and a head band on. She wore a white dress and light blue sweater jacket. She was adorable and Ava bought her a juice packet while they travelled. Ava looked more professional, in a simple green dress, her hair pulled back behind a matching headband. They arrived in Magnolia and found out where they needed to go. The young blonde and her new companion headed upstairs and found a man on the roof. He was much older than Ava, but that had long since stopped being surprising, if it ever was.

“Hello. My name is Ava. I’m from Lamia Scale. Are you… doing surveillance?” Ava asked when she saw Atrum. She wasn’t sure what he would be like, but she wanted to be as respectful as possible, while not seeming too casual. Virgo stood nearby sipping at her juice quietly.

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by **Nines** Mon Sep 15, 2014 9:00 am

Nines was going through what someone else would consider the worst day ever. However Nines felt today was a good day. He wore no armor, his clothes were casual. Draped across his shoulders was the wooden rifle of his own make. Today was a day of disguises for Nines, his bandages were wrapped around his left arm, his white batch, the seals written in ink that couldn’t be seen by normal eyes. He smiled as he continued to walk through town. He had gotten mugged today, the muggers making off with all his money as he let himself get punched. They couldn’t even hurt him, he just acted like they did. He was doing the back alleyway today, and managed to spy something unusual. A pair of men walking, and not talking. They were within two feet of each other, obviously knew each other, and made no common discussion.

Suspicious.

Nines stopped for a moment, and as soon as he did one of the two men eyed him. Then made a hand motion. So there was communication going on there, only it was silent.

Even more suspicious.

He heard a clatter and looked up, a shadow stood in the corner of the roof above him, watching the two men. A hunter, the stance was crouched, stalking, his head was roundish like it was topped with a disk under a dome. A hat obviously, Nines could think of only one man who would wear something that ridiculous while hunting someone. Atrum, it was weird to see him doing things like this. Which only made this even MORE suspicious.

Nines made a mental note of the two men, and the direction they were heading. Knowing Magnolia almost by heart, he made his play. Making a sharp turn he walked across another alleyway, linking to another one where he made a left turn. He ran down this alleyway and made another right, then continuing his sprint made another left. This last alleyway intersected with the one the two men were on. He walked away from the intersection towards the two men.

If they were being stalked by Atrum that meant Nines should have a word with them. He grinned as he flipped his rifle’s stock cracking open the breech, and putting six metal bolts inside of it, then flipped it back shut. He then sat on a nearby cargo crate, with his gun next to him and waited for the two men to come into view.

“Evening gentlemen.” Nines said “May I have a word?” He asked his grin never faltering.

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by **Atrum Furea** Fri Sep 19, 2014 12:05 pm

(Apologies for holding this thread up)

Atrum was about to move when several things happened at once, the first being someone introducing herself. At least he was sure it was a girl he hadn't looked yet, keeping an eye on those he was watching was important enough to not immediately give her a proper introduction. Instead of turning to introduce himself and gave the newcomer a pleasant smile and waved her over towards the edge, he put his finger to his lips in order to keep her from raising her voice too loud. He pointed out the two men he was watching when the second thing happened, that being that nines showed up from the alley way looking like he had fell down a flight of stairs. The giant raised an eyebrow and chuckled to himself, he hadn't worked with nines often but when he did things tended to get exciting, this should be more fun than he thought. With Nines approaching the two men the giant figured he could take his eyes off of them in order to talk to the newcomer, now that he got a good look at her he noticed that she was tiny compared to himself almost half his size really. He didn't think to judge her size as a indicator of her combat ability as nines himself wasn't that tall either, either way she was surely his back up for this mission.

"Hello madame, I am Atrum Furea of Fairy Tail, it is a pleasure to meet you, and yes, yes I am." He said briefly taking off his hat in greeting before replacing it back upon his head with a flourish. "In fact I had just noticed someone suspicious not a moment before you arrived." He continued turning his attention back to the men and nines as his friend hailed them. "I was watching to two men there being 'accosted' by the man who looks like he just came out of the woods. That one is the last of our group, I call him Nines. I apologize about this but we may not have time for pleasantries in a few seconds." He said as the two men reacted to Nines suddenly revealing his presence.

"Huh? You talking to us?" The first one started looking at Nines and seemingly sizing him up. "You need something man? We don't have any money to give you bud." He said in a matter of fact manner, almost immediately turning to walk away from the man that had called out to them. Now the giant couldn't hear what was going on from up on the roof but he could see everything and he noticed something rather interesting while the one talking to nines made a racket the one wearing the hood took one look at Nines and tapped his friends foot with his shoe. These two were about to bolt.

"Well miss Ava, it appears we have found our prey already, shall we embark on the hunt?" he asked standing up and cracking his knuckles, this was going to be fun.

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by **Ava Brooks** Mon Sep 22, 2014 4:41 pm

Just outside of Ava’s view a man was doing something. That was most of what she could chalk it up to. She didn’t quite know enough about the job at hand to know what needed to be done off the bat. It would have been nice to discuss that, but perhaps not. From this man’s reaction, they were not going to be sitting around and talking. They were jumping right into the action. Well, someone was. Virgo, probably. She would probably enjoy it. While Ava could physically not handle a fight, Virgo was happy to do anything she thought might even just slightly please Ava. Ava enjoyed this.

My dear goodness is this man enormous… Ava thought when he moved near her. Now, she knew he was tall to begin with, but she apparently hadn’t realized just how massive. Ava was happy to be three inches over five foot tall. Virgo was currently even shorter than that. Ava had the impulse to stand closer to Virgo when this man came near. Was… he actually human? She looked straight up at him.

It seemed the giant had a size requirement before noticing others. Ava probably just made it on his radar. Perhaps Virgo was just too close to the ground for his vision. It made sense, as when he took the time to address Ava, he completely missed Virgo. She continued to sip from her juice box. Atrum Furea. Giant of Fairy Tail. Yes, alright. Ava would not forget this. He took off his hat and seemed polite enough. He called someone… Nines? Ava was normally above the most base gestures to express herself, but she could not help but look slightly disapproving. “You call him a number?” she asked.

Well, they didn’t have much time to waste on her inquiry, clearly. They had other things to tend to now. This Atrum seemed to think it was a hunt. Well, Ava had her keys, and she certainly as not going to hesitate to use them, but beyond that she was horrible in a fight. “Very well,” she said to Atrum. Virgo finished her juice, “Lead the way.”

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by **Nines** Mon Sep 22, 2014 6:40 pm

“No no no, thats not it at all. Why would I ask you guys for money? I just got robbed. Why would I want some jewels if I was just gonna go back home and get mugged on the way there again.” Nines sighed as he explained the situation he was putting himself in, he stood up off his box and dusted his pants off. “I was just going to casually ask, why are you guys being followed? Is it to make sure you're not actually being followed by someone you don't trust? Clever play.” He asked a smile creeping across his face. “Well it doesn’t matter in the end anyway I guess. Do you guys mind if I tag along? Make sure you guys aren't stalked and beat down by the same thugs who mugged me?” Nines grabbed his rifle and draped it across his shoulders again, and smiled at them. He was a peaceful man really, but times of strife called for violence. “I’ll give you advanced warning, and an extra pair of eyes.”

He then paused “You’re both probably going ‘what's in it for this guy’, and my response would be,‘brutal revenge’ and i’d prolly clench my fist too look serious or something, be super dramatic like that” Nines commented waving his left hand which was holding nothing around. “But the truth is, i'm bored.” He chuckled.

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by **Atrum Furea** Wed Sep 24, 2014 4:27 am

"Yes, it is a rather long story but I do in fact call him a number, he seems to like it as well since he tends to introduce himself that way." Atrum responded as he lead Ava and virgo down from the roof to place where they could move without causing a ton of commotion. He figured that he could walk and talk at the same time, and that making himself look like he was talking to someone made him stick out a bit less when they were on the street, the giant chose to lead them one street over using the buildings as cover for their shadowing of the group. He continued to watch them and figured he would at least get to know who he was working with, it would come in handy for when they actually started the mission. "So Miss Ava, I am assuming you were informed on the details of this mission? I would like to ask what you were told if that is not too much of a bother as well as the type of magic you use. I myself use a magic called 'The Flames of War' mostly a normal fire magic with the not so subtle twist of imitating lightning." He spoke keeping an eye on Nines and their targets.

"Being followed?" The talkative one let slip before he received another nudge from his partner and the one who seemed to be handling talking to people in general. "Okay I guess you can tag along, but we have some private business to conduct so when we get far enough along we'll have to part ways." He insisted motioning for the armed man to follow him. Of course the two continued to talk to each other arguing back and forth silently and questioning each other how they got into this mess. The most pressing question being that if he was mugged why did he have a rifle? The one wearing the hood obviously seemed uncomfortable with the entire situation while the talkative man seemed like he had just been told that if he took a single wrong step he'd fall to the other side of the earth. Atrum figured they had the right guys if they even suspected nines had a connection to the magic council they'd probably run in any direction other than his. For his part the Giant simply wanted to get the job underway

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by **Ava Brooks** Sun Sep 28, 2014 8:51 pm

How odd… Ava thought. It was a rather long story that Atrum called a man a number, but that he introduced himself that way? Would the story not be as simple as “he introduces himself as such?” She did wonder what would drive a man to do such a thing. After all, a number was by no means a name. Such as Junior or Senior were truly not names, they were titles attached to names. Ah well, Ava kept her opinion entirely to herself for the time being. He asked Ava is she had been informed of the details, “I was told that Fairy Tail was having trouble with dark mages in the area and that they would like help tending to that problem. I tend to have a vested interest in Magnolia remaining safe, so I agreed to help.” It was her home town, but she didn’t elaborate on that. Virgo looked for a place to dispose of her juice box, lagging behind only for a moment before returning quickly to Ava’s side as she walked with Atrum.

He asked what kind of magic she used, and named his magic. Apparently it had a fancy title, in addition to a description he gave her. Fire magic that imitated lightning. What that had to do with the title, she did not know, but she stored the memory. He asked what kind of magic she used and she said, “I am a Celestial Summoner. I have a few keys, and I have faith in my allies ability to fight. If you wish to know the individual talents of my friends, it includes electricity, ice, wind, earth, and general blunt force.” He seemed interested in that sort of information, and that was why she had offered it. She walked with him and Virgo, waiting to see when she would be needed to do something.

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by **Atrum Furea** Sun Oct 26, 2014 12:32 am

"Well anyone wiling to help keep this land safe is fin by me, Glad to have you here I am sure that you and your friends will be of great help." Atrum looking back at Ava to give her a smile he instead spotted the small Virgo behind her, his expression shifted from shocked and surprised to joyous and horrified in a matter of seconds as his instincts for self defense were trumped by his weakness to adorable. The Giant grabbed his chest and made a strangled sound as he turned back to look directly at Ava, He crouched down getting a hold on himself before finally having it in him to speak again.

"I am sorry but it seems I have not noticed your companion and for that I apologize it was very rude of me." He managed Turning back towards nines and the two men he was tailing, just in time for one of them to notice something and give a quick hand signal to the other He thanked The Flame goddess for the distraction and having mercy on his heart though that didn't stop him from cursing aloud as they made a break for it. "Blazing Hells they are making a run for it." He said getting up to his feet proper, and preparing his body for a chase. "I believe that these two are our target if we can follow them they shall lead us to their base."

The two suspicious characters had noticed something odd while they were walking and chose to outrun the danger, taking off without alerting nines they simply broke out into a full sprint heading through the crowd the cloaked one pulled out a small ball and smashed it against a wall as they passed detonating the small smoke bomb as they fled. If they kept this pace up they might actually outrun Atrum and the others, the giant however didn't intend on letting them get away not on his watch.

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[Feel free to write what those two dark wizards do they aren't my private property or anything.]

by **Ava Brooks** Wed Oct 29, 2014 2:38 pm

It was good to hear that Atrum accepted aid from anyone willing to keep the land safe. That was good indeed. He wasn’t going to be picky about sides or guild colors. A man who could see past “teams” and look at the overall goal they all shared, that was good. She could respect his clear head. Well… she thought she could. Suddenly he noticed Virgo. Virgo casually opened her hand and gave him a small vertical wave. The man appeared to suddenly be suffering from a heart attack.

“Are you feeling alright?” Ava asked him when he said he noticed Virgo. Ava quietly cleared her throat, “Yes, this is Virgo. She…” Ava trailed off as “Blazing Hells” came into mention. Well, that was quite an… expression. Oh! People were making a run for it. “Ah, then we should make chase!”Ava said. She looked at Virgo.

“Yes mistress?” Virgo asked, tilting her head to the side for a moment.

“I need to follow,” Ava said, glancing from Virgo to the next rooftop. It was far to far for Ava to jump.

“Yes, of course.” A mound of earth came up from the ground, connecting the two buildings. Virgo helped Ava onto it. Ava sighed. That wasn’t exactly… oh well. She stepped across, waiting for Atrum and trying to keep her eye on the men. At least form up high they could see a farther distance and not lose them in the crowd.

The men bumped into several people on their way through the streets. It really wasn’t a stealthy operation, but they were making good time and ducked into an alley to get out of sight.

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