Magnolia wasn’t so bad, for the recent upheaval that had happened and all. Fairy Tail’s master had been killed by the countries new ruler, something the guild wasn’t taking well at all from the small look’s Thorn got. They were clamouring to take down the master of the now disbanded Grimoire Heart dark guild, now reigning emperor of Fiore, Arthur-something-fancy-sounding. The members seemed to be attempting to be subtle but it was the nervousness of the town that gave them away. It was also the reason Thorn was able to successfully sneak in and out of the town, unnoticed to her knowledge or uncaring if someone did notice her. Chaos was the perfect cover, enough for her to hide out in a building being renovated and get to the train station in time for the next train to Era. Thorn wouldn’t easily admit her relief at not being noticed by any members of that crazy guild, but was mutely glad to be riding away from that place.

The condition of Era was different from the last time she visited the city. It showed marks of battle of course, but surprisingly not in the city itself much other than a few Grimoire Heart symbols on the door and a few battle scars. The palace was the place most of the battles happened, from what thorn could see from a distance, with various parts of the wall torn off, several windows broken, and chunks of the palace itself gone. She thought about snooping around to find info on this new ruler and his court, but ultimately decided against it. She didn’t want to stir up unnecessary trouble unless there was guarantee profit to be had, which there probably wasn’t unless the new king was in need of immoral mercenaries. Which judging from his past actions he might be, but was probably past that point now that he had the Fiorian army under his thumb.

While she was in area Thorn stayed in her inn’s bar area for a while, unaware of the leering stares aimed at her. Not only did she managed not to get in any fights, but had actually gathered some information on the town she would soon be living in. Which was very nice since she’s never actually been to Oak Town, just heard a bit about it. It turns out that while the town looks nice and puts on a nice image, it’s actually one of Fiore’s crime hotspots, possibly the main one. It hosted a full black market, and underground gambling ring, information brokers, smugglers, and all kinds of crooks for hire.
One of the towns main attractions was the Dark Guild, Phantom Lord. After the abolition of Grimoire Heart it actually became the only dark guild in Fiore, possibly attracting the attention of the new king, possibly not. Nobody Thorn talked to knew the alliances between the two guilds, or who fought on which side of the war. Either her intel was sketchy or the battles were to chaotic to tell but Thorn couldn’t imagine it being happy with a rival guild gaining so much power.
Another note was the ruling family, the Phantasm’s. They supposedly lived in a big castle on the top of where the town was situated in, overlooking those they ruled over. The family consisted the lord, his grim faced son and hair, and his selfish little daughter. They overlooked much of the crime going on in the town as long as things never got too out of hand and they still held power. Supposedly the son was leading up to be the perfect heir for the lordship while the daughter was the perfect little brat the family couldn’t wait to marry off. According to her new drinking partner they accepted the new monarchs rule.
The most interesting titbit was the relationship between the guild and the lord. Supposedly the lord was supposed to report to the late king about the guilds actions in an attempt to one day take them down, or at least keep them under control. But supposedly the lord was doing the opposite of that by secretly lying in the reports and allowing the dark guild to do as they please, but in return aiding the lord when he needs it, which he might soon if the new ruler took offense to that. Not that anyone really knew of course.


After staying in an actual inn for the night and stopping herself from snooping more than she already had Thorn headed off to her final destination, Oak Town. There she hoped to get a steady employer, thus pay. Huh, maybe the guild thing really did have some merit, it was a constant source of jobs. But Thorn didn’t like to be unnecessarily tied down or put under some guild masters thumb. She would gather information about this Phantom Lord guild before even thinking about joining them.

The road to Oak was longer than she wanted since Thorn went out of her way to avoid other travellers, finally, a castle could be seen in the distance, one she guessed belong to the fabled Phantasm family. After trudging up a hill the town came into sight, pleasant looking from a distance but with those who occupied it in mind Thorn knew looks were deceiving. Off to the side, standing boldly for all to see was the dark guilds home base, probably surrounded by protection to keep unwanted intruders out. Relived to finally arrive Thorn makes her way down the hill and into Oak Town.