“Ah, not quite what I’m used to,” said Nuala.

The Daemon stood in the rain with her hands against her hips and a rather gloomy expression written on her face. The guild building of Eternal Nightmare was far from luxurious, but that didn’t matter at this point – she simply couldn’t continue like this. With Daeva Eye gone, the thief had aimlessly roamed Earthland throughout the past year and after losing her immortality through rather questionable circumstances – and regaining it very recently, the rogue decided that it was perhaps for the best to join a new guild and start over. There weren’t many options in Fiore and the woman surely didn’t plan on joining forces with any of the lighter guilds. She didn’t like their happy-go-lucky attitude and the constant need to please society, the king and even the Rune Knights.

Nuala didn’t really care about any of that. She just wanted to live her life and do whatever she felt like doing. The thief had always been like that and it was one of the many reasons why she was considered an outcast. Nuala hadn’t chosen Eternal Nightmare for any particular reason, especially not for its charm, but somehow the woman felt as though she might get lucky here. If anything, the guild master was her best bet at finding a place to sleep again that wasn’t some run down in the forest or some shady stranger’s apartment.

She’s really had enough of all that.

Taking a deep breath, Nuala lifted her right hand and knocked on the door. The sound of her fist against the wooden surface of the guild’s gate echoed through the entire building. It was eerie, but not scary enough to give her goosebumps. There was really no way to say what kind of people she would face inside, but she was ready to meet whoever stood on the opposite side of these doors.

The guild’s staff let the woman inside without pretence, but required her to wait at the door. The building’s interior was eerie but well structured and purple eyes curiously scanned their surroundings. The personnel considered her with no small amount of suspicion, but the thief didn’t seem to care. Instead, Nuala wrung out her wet hair and added more water to the small puddle that had formed below her feet. She was drenched, but if things went well tonight, the rogue would finally have a place to sleep and call home again.

“Someone will be on their way shortly,” the middle-aged man reassured her, clearly itching to get away from the shady-looking female. She arched her brows at him and watched with mild amusement as he shuffled away to fetch her someone with more authority.

Nuala half expected the Lich himself to show up. Speaking with Odin would make this easy – their first meeting, albeit brief, had been memorable and the daemon doubted he would mind adding another infamous name to his ever-growing roster of strong individuals. The rogue wasn’t a known powerhouse by any means, but equipped with a refined set of skills Nuala considered herself a valuable asset to any dark guild in the country. Here’s to hoping the Master would agree. Even so, nothing could have prepared her for the person who ended up coming down the seemingly endless corridor.

Nuala’s eyes widened in surprise and her stomach churned at the familiar sight of Venus Rosé. A once close friend and ally, the fiery red-head still carried herself in that same self-assured manner, oozing of confidence and boredom because somehow no one was ever good enough for her. Nuala used to adore being one of Venus’ favourites – it felt good to be the chosen one of someone of such power and renown, but after everything fell apart the woman only felt scorn and anger for her former guild mate. When Venus looked at her and only signed, as if Nuala was somehow inconveniencing her just by being here, all hell broke loose.

“You!” The purple-haired woman nearly screamed and crossed the distance between them with quick, heavy steps. “How dare you! After everything–,”  her throat bobbed and Nuala became visibly exasperated. It wasn’t as though Venus wasn’t allowed to have a good time and move on with her life, but while the red-head had been reveling in the benefits of her new guild, the thief had gone through hell and back losing her powers and desperately searching for her friends – friends that were either still MIA, dead or had abandoned her. The latter seemingly applied to Venus, at whom Nuala was now furiously pointing a finger at.

“You don’t get to stand here and look at me like that when you’re the one who let everything go! Let everything fall apart!”

Odin did show up in the end, unceremoniously ending whatever brief interaction Venus and Nuala had shared with not as much as the bat of an eye. The thief was admittedly caught by surprise by the lich’s sudden entrance and when he nonchalantly offered her a spot in his guild, Eternal Nightmare, the woman’s mouth opened and closed, like a fish. “I, uh..yes?” Nuala’s anger had turned entirely into dust, her argument with Venus quickly slipping away from her consciousness, back into the far depths of her mind.

A matter for later.

“I mean, I do. If you’ll have me–” she immediately felt stupid for saying that, considering that Odin had already confirmed that he would be happy to have her – could the lich be happy? Another thought for later. Nuala shot the red-haired woman a quick glance and although she’d never openly admit to it, there was a sense of doubt in her eyes, searching for approval in the other. When Venus gave it quickly and without question, the thief’s head abruptly turned back to Odin and she gave an eager nod. “That’s, uh..that's a yes. Definitely. I honestly didn’t expect it to be that simple,” she said with a laugh and awkwardly rubbed the back of her head. She almost looked silly now: graceless, drenched, deadly Nuala. Finally wearing a new shade of purple after months of solitude.

“Anything I should know?” She figured she’d ask about the rules while they were at it, seeing how Odin was probably busy often, with plenty of other, better things to do than to tend to the emotional wreck that was her. Granted, Nuala was a new-born daemon and adjusting to her new powers and her new body took some time, but that was to be neither his nor Venus' concern.