A lot unfolded on the forest plain in a short period of time. After the arrival of Zagan and his troupe, many of the stronger mages prepared themselves. One of their number, Kazimir, spoke through the disguise. Somehow, he was looking at Odin, which irritated the mage to no end. Anger built up inside him, but he knew it was better to hold off on the attack. Zagan and Lanzarossa were the ones in charge, and it wasn't until either of them acted that the others would respond. For now, they were the powerhouses and, as the demon drew some kind of dagger, the fear in the dragon's eyes told everyone to fear the one called Zagan.

He disappeared, blinking straight across to the other group, his knife placed around the neck of one of their number. In response, the dragon humanoid lost the latter half of that expression. Her skin burst, scales grew across her, and a dragon appeared before them all. However, she did not fight. Whatever power that dagger held, it frightened her to her core. She decided, despite outnumbering Zagan's group with almost double the amount of people, that she would rather run away. How interesting.

After she left, the others spoke, and Lucas had his own things to say.

"Where can I get one of those daggers? Or, at least, the power to scare off a full-fledged dragon?"

The events that unfolded shocked Zane just as they would any person. The tall woman in front of them was actually a dragon, Zagan held some boy hostage and everyone managed to fly away. The whole situation ended so quickly, yet Zane was left shocked by it all. What did he just get get himself into?

In response to Steel's question, Zane pointed at the man as if to say he was wondering the exact same thing. Countless people, including Mary and Tomoe, had just seen him on the side of a man who threatened a dragon with a hostage. Definitely not the best look for him, even if he was somewhat excited to know that he was involved in such a major event. Some of the others did not seem nearly as flabbergasted at the whole situation as Zane was, though. It seemed like he was by far the most shaken by all of this, even if his wacky personality still allowed him to be less so than the average person. "What the hell did I get myself into..." Sighing, Zane paced around the little area where him and his comrades stood.

Was he the bad guy now? Yeah, he was probably the bad guy. Still, a lot of villains in stories were remembered very fondly. Maybe he could be like that? Top ten Fiorian villains? Top ten most handsome villains of all time? Stopping his pacing, Zane's feet came to a halt as he looked towards the group. "You know what, fuck it. This is all just a step to get that nightmare thing, right?" Zane used the excuse of getting nightmare to somewhat justify his siding. Taking a forcefully deep breath in a very aggressive attempt to calm himself down, Zane took a seat on the grass, spreading his legs a bit and putting his hands on either side of them as to appear if he was just casually lounging after they had just scared off a dragon together. "But yeah, what he said. What do we do next?"

Zagan seemed to simply not care about Lanzarossa, the dragons, or the other mages: a testament to his strength, as he taunted their departure. He then turned to speak to Lucas of the dagger. As expected, it was a one of a kind mythical weapon of untold power, especially when used to kill dragons. That also meant Zagan wouldn't be parting with it anytime soon, so Lucas took the hint and decided not to bother talking anymore on the subject. After all, they were now talking about business, and that was something that both Lucas and Odin were to pay attention to after all. It gave them both power, and helped them achieve their goals.

They were each to get specific quests to complete to aid in the recreation of the Nightmare power. Lucas was paired up with Zane, the blonde mage that was also part of Fairy Tail. Or perhaps that was now once part of Fairy Tail. Perhaps they were now without a guild, having chosen to side with Nightmare and the powers that it could bring. They were freed from the shackles of the light guild, so perhaps it was time for something new. Lucas would nod over to the blonde mage and smile. Solving a dungeon would not be easy, and Odin was not at the correct strength to complete the objective without a great deal of difficulty. He would need to gain a little bit more power, or perhaps some powerful allies...

Steel and Ko were given their own mission, one that seemed perhaps easier than Lucas', but no doubt one that would come with its own surprises and difficulties. It wouldn't be until Zagan finished speaking that Lucas would then make his opinions known. None of them knew of his true strength, but perhaps what they did know could give him the influence required for what he was proposing.

"To complete these missions, it may require more than just the four of us. If you come across any in your travels that would be of use, recruit them to the cause. Perhaps we were destined to find our way to each other, to create a new kind of guild. One that will surpass all others and bring the world to its knees. Steel and Ko, I will see you both in Era. Zane," Odin chuckled lightly before continuing, "I think I might know someone who would be interested. I think it's time for a change in Fiore, and we're the ones who will bring it. Like an oncoming storm."

With that said, Lucas would wait to hear the responses from his newfound allies, before they would no doubt go their separate ways. They would train, recruit and then, when all was complete, they would unlock ancient powers that Fiore, and all of Earthland, would not be ready for.

"Oh, uh, okay!" Zane awkwardly waved goodbye upon hearing Zagan's directions, still processing all of what had happened in his mind. Certainly a tough pill to swallow. Were they the bad guys now? Zane's inner phiolosophical rambles would certainly take up too many words to make this post reasonably readable, but thankfully his time to think was cut short once again as he took orders from Zagan, his task to be shared with the man of the name of Lucas.

"Another dungeon huh? Whipee..." Zane responded with a heavily sarcastic tone in his voice, his head turning towards Lucas to see if he felt the same. The two had just gotten out of a dungeon, and now they would be heading back into one sooner or later. From what Zane heard of the other two's assignment it seemed as though they were heading to some sort of library - certainly a much more interesting field trip. Zane didn't have much time to complain though, Zagan having vanished as soon as his little bit of instruction had been dealt with. "Hmmm, well... he's still pretty cool." Despite the fact that Zagan got him into all of this, Zane still felt there were opportunities to be had here. Maybe they would be the really cool kinda bad guys, the "did nothing wrong" bad guys, the bad guys that were remembered far more than any protagonist. Such a thing didn't seem too bad to Zane.

Lucas' thoughts on making a guild were enough to call to Zane's attention his connection to Fairy Tail in this whole sequence of events. "Oh, yeah, Mary kinda saw us there... guess I probably wouldn't be able to pick up my spare clothes at the hall." Shame, there were some real nice shirts he had left there. Placing his hand on his chin at Odin's instructions to recruit people who might be interested in their cause, Zane tried to rack his brain a bit for ideas.

He had to think of all the people he had met in Fiore recently who could be of assistance of them. Tomoe was cool, but he would most likely diss Zane's eyepatch too much for his liking. Kaiser was hard for Zane to get a hold of right now. Raquel and his' only interaction involved her barging in while he was having a perfectly fine bath. He didn't want that to happen in a guild hall... Mary would most likely like not join them based on her reaction earlier. Liberty, the icebergian girl. She didn't seem like the type that would necessarily oppose it, but it wasn't too likely she would go along with it either. He had met her in Oak, hadn't he? There was someone else he met there...

Erebus, right? The two of them had talked for a bit, and he and Zane seemed to have hit it off a little - despite their conversation being on the short side. Perhaps he'd be interested in joining? Zane had to admit that Erebus was super damn cool... but not quite as cool as Zane. Still, having someone just barely as cool as you was a good thing. It boosted not only the group's image, but Zane's own as well. "There's a guy I met once, Erebus." Zane said to the group, wanting to get people's attention. "I think he miiiight be worth asking around for. If any of you see him, tell him that Zane sent you. I know some other people too. I can ask them myself." There was only one person left in Zane's mind he could ask. Perhaps it was finally time to meet up with her again...

Stretching out his arms and legs after all that action, Zane took a deep breath as he looked around. "Well, I dunno about you guys, but I'm tired as hell. Anything left worth talking about, or?"

Zagan answered Lucas' questions first. It seemed the dagger Zagan had been using to scare off Lanzerossa was something as if out of a fairy tale. It was a physical piece of one of Nacht the dragon of the end’s teeth.

He then turned to the rest of them first giving instructions to Lucas and Zane. They were to go to some dungeon and get a key. What the Key was for he did not say. But the fact that the dungeon was named after someone called Argyle made Steel think of a certain diamond pattern he had seen on clothing.

Zagan then turned to Steel and Ko. He told them to go to the royal library in Crocus, the capital of Fiore and find a book called Giorgio and the dragon. It was thought to be a fairy tale but Zagan quickly dispersed those thoughts by explaining that it was in fact a recounting of history and that there were clues in the book that described their next destination.


Then it was Lucas that started talking; he spoke about how this all might require more than the four of them and that they would probably need to start their own guild to which Steel nodded approvingly. He had no way of returning to Fairy Tail anymore. Mary knew that they were “evil” now and Adriana the guildmaster would probably also know and while Steel might be able to test Adriana he knew she was immensely powerful and attacking Fairy Tail before becoming stronger was probably suicide.

Then Zane spoke but after Zane had finished Steel took it upon himself to answer. “I will go look for this Erebus person. While I prepare for the task at hand. I agree with you Lucas. This country needs to change for the better and I don’t think that can be done without revolution. And for all it’s worth I think at least three of us.” Steel looked at Zane and Lucas in order and then continued speaking “Have no way of returning to Fairy Tail anymore.” He then looked around and stretched his back a little. “Well I think it’s time for me to be on my way if this is ever going to get done.” He then walked away from the group of people.

Ko was brought out of his musing by Zagan once again addressing the group, giving out instructions on their next move.  Down in the Dungeon, Ko had assumed that this Zagan person already had everything in place somehow, but in retrospect his assumption was rather ill-devised.  After all, Zagan had evidently been locked into the dungeon; there'd be no way he could be coordinating things up here.

Still, at least it didn't seem like the necessary steps they'd have to take would be too difficult.  Clearing a dungeon run by a Dragon?  Piece of cake.  They'd all just finished clearing a huge dungeon, run by Dragons, hadn't they?  Steal a one-of-a-kind book from the royal library?  Easy as pie.  Who's gonna try and stop them, an angry royal librarian?  Hell, Ko hoped someone makes them work for it.  With the prospect of more power at his fingertips, he was desperate to start testing himself against opponents once again.

After Zagan left, the one armed guy, Lucas, turned to address the rest of the group.  Ko had to admit, the guy had some pretty great ideas.  It wasn't really in Ko's nature to be ambitious or to seek out positions of political power.  He just didn't care about things like that.  What he did care about was personal power, personal challenges.  Short of going after that Dragon Lanzerossa and her companions, Ko couldn't think of anything more challenging than taking over a country and reforming it to their own desires.  "An oncoming storm, huh?  I like how that sounds."  

With their individual jobs sorted, Ko turned his own mind to potential new members.  Unfortunately, he hadn't met or become close with too many people since coming to Fiore.  For the first time since entering the Dungeon, Ko's mind turned to Rinni, and something twisted in his chest.  She hadn't been present in the group with Lanzerossa, but she was sure to hear about what happened.  He couldn't imagine an outcome where she'd be happy about this; she didn't have the same kind of love for violence that he had.  With a sigh, he shoved those thoughts away.  It was what it was; he'd made his choice, and he'd live with the consequences.

Ko came out of his reverie in time to hear Zane mention a potential recruit, named Erebus.  Steel almost immediately volunteered to go find him and induct him into their new...well, Ko guessed they were a guild of four now, weren't they?  It seemed if Ko wanted to help bring someone into the fold, he'd have to find someone point blank.  Difficult, but Ko liked a challenge.  "I guess I'll put my ear to the ground and see if I can dig up some fresh meat for the grinder, in that case.  We're gonna need more than just 7 of us if we wanna go up against all of Fiore and these Dragons."

Once Steel turned to leave, Ko couldn't resist and clapped the surly man on the back.  "Don't be such a downer, Steel!  Show a little excitement!  Things are gonna get interesting real fast!"  With that, Ko leaped up onto Nantosuelta's back, a wild grin on his face.  "I'll see you in Crocus Steel, and the rest of you in Era.  I'll do my best not to get started without you!"  And with that, Nantosuelta took off into the air, leaving the group behind in a gust of wind.

"Yeah, hopefully he agrees. Here's hoping, right?" Zane hoped that Steel was able to find Erebus easily enough. Zane uncharacteristically stayed silent for a while as Steel and Ko talked on their plans. Things getting exciting, the changes the four of them could bring... Zane still didn't know how to think about all this. Silently waving as the two went off, Zane reflected on the words of the others. Was this really something that he should've gotten himself into? Was this really the type of person he was trying to be?

Zane let out a frustrated sigh as he closed his eyes, only him and Lucas remaining in the field. "Ah, geez..." It was clear that Zane would most likely take a lot of time processing all of this. While he was goofy, he wasn't exactly stupid either... the consequences of this all would take shape soon enough. Opening his eyes and looking towards Lucas, Zane spoke. "Lotta things happened today, huh? Certainly not what I was expecting when I woke up in the morning." Making his way over to a nearby rock, Zane decided to take a seat on it for the time being, leaning back on both of his hands as he took the moment to talk for a little bit. There were certainly a lot of things he wanted to say. And ask. And suggest. But the two of them would most likely have to start with their tasks sooner or later. "Ya know, I always kinda wished I was one of those heroes in stories. The ones who are really flashy, ya know? Like "I'm here to save the day, don't worry!" and all that. Super popular with the ladies, probably really strong. Some special power, maybe they shoot fireballs, pew pew pew. Etc etc, you get the gist." Looking out to the field they were in, Zane remembered how the people looked at them. "Didn't look like they saw us that way, though..." Zane's face turned to a bit of a frown. Was being a villain of sorts something he really wanted to do?

Maybe this was the only way he'd be able to go somewhere, though. He thought back to how he felt in Myras. His interactions with Tomoe and Kaiser. He always felt like he wasn't doing enough compared to everyone else. A bit of wind kicked up and let Zane's blonde hair flow a bit as he came to conclusions in his mind. It didn't matter if people saw him as a bad guy - he'd make everyone love him regardless. Besides, the villains in stories were pretty cool as well! Standing up from the rock, Zane seemed to be back to his usual self for the time being. A smile lit up his face as he pointed at Odin in a way that made him seem like he was trying far too hard to be cool. "Alright! Let's do this, Lucas. We'll be the coolest guild Fiore has ever seen. What should we call ourselves, though?"

Placing his hand on his chin in an attempt to seem smarter, Zane figured he might as well put the word "nightmare" in the title. It made sense, given what Zagan had them going after. Snapping his fingers, Zane had a good idea. "Big Nightmare!" Quickly realizing the name sounded stupid, Zane quickly retracted it. "Wait, no! Infinite Nightmare. Or maybe Endless Nightmare? Neverending Nightmare? Wait, there's a different word for that, it's on the tip of my tongue..."" Zane's mind took a second to try and browse through his entire vocabulary, the process taking him quite a while. Perhaps buying a dictionary soon would be a good investment. "Eternal! Eternal Nightmare. That's the best name anyone could think of in all of history. We'll trademark it soon!" Excited at his naming capabilities, Zane felt raring to go.

"Alright, we'll meet up at that dungeon eventually. I'm gonna go ask someone that might be interested in Eternal Nightmare. See ya soon!" Running off in an excited manner, a smile filled Zane's face. Perhaps this was all some sort of very early mid life crisis. Or would it be a late early life crisis? No matter which it would end up falling into, Zane's mind was set on trying to get this guild off the ground, his own feet doing so as he ran off into the distance.

Wait, where the hell were they anyways?

EXIT