AN: I'm surprised no one has tried this already. Anyways, I'm not abandoning any of my other stories, just can't get this one off my mind. This story will last 6-8 chapters so enjoy. WARNING, the story will go a little fast in the beginning because I forwent making a prologue, use of several Old English will be used in other chapters, if you don't understand them, just pretend you understand. And just before anyone starts bitching about me nerfing or buffing the characters, I'm decreasing the retarded anime logic a little and removing the game limitation. If you get stabbed in the chest, you just die, simple as that.

On another note, read my fic The Age of Dark. A crossover between Dark Souls and Highschool of the dead. I have a knack for making impossible crossovers possible and I'm not ashamed to say this. Enjoy

Ornstein hated the word last, and didn't like being last at anything and someone once told him, 'If you're not first, you're last'. That's why he worked hard at every trial he had to face and very soon, he wasn't last anymore.

He was a knight, and a knight's job was simple really, slay dragons and save princesses. However, he wasn't just any knight. He was the knight who laid waste to armies of dragons and demons alike, he was the knight who protected the most important of princess from thousands of different foes, a knight like no other, he was the only golden knight in an army of silver, a proud lion for his subordinates and a fierce weaver of death for his enemies. But in a bitter irony of some sort, lastly, he was the knight who was betrayed.

He wished he had died in that fight, he wished Smough's betrayal was the only one he had to endure, for he had already anticipated it before. But no, fate wasn't so kind in that regard. The warrior finished off Smough with ease, the lightning powers the Executioner stole doing little against the nimble undead, and proceeded to enter Gwynevere's chamber and battered as he was, he could not in any ways fail to protect his Princess.

Dragging himself towards the elevator, which he never used ever, he slowly made his way to the Princess's chamber. When he neared the giant doors, he used his spear as a makeshift support and peered inside.

But to his surprise, the Princess greeted the warrior with open arms, proclaiming the man to be the Chosen Undead of the ancient legends and bestowing him with the Lordvessel. Without realizing it, he let out a breath he had been holding on to. However, that relief quickly turned into fear as the warrior drew a black bow and shot the princess, and fear quickly turned into horror as the Princess of Sunlight, Gwynevere, dissolved into uncountable pieces of light and Anor Londo was submerged in darkness.

The last he saw of his beloved princess was the image of betrayal as she wasn't even there in the first place.

Ornstein stood near the undergrowth of the Valley of the Drakes, slaying the pseudo dragons in the dozens. There was a time when he enjoyed this, so much so that the Drakes started spewing lightning instead of fire. Now, his heart had nothing to enjoy and his spear had nothing to protect, only to quench his anger on the beasts, until he sensed a presence which was neither man nor beast.

"Show yourself," he bellowed, and the newcomer appeared before him. Relief flooded him for the first time since his departure from his lost home, for he knew all too well who the woman below the thick, dirty looking rags was.

"Quelana, you live," he exclaimed with unhidden joy and embraced the hooded woman, eliciting a yelp from the Daughter of Chaos. "It has been too long."

She hesitated for a second and reciprocated the embrace. "A thousand years to be exact."

"I had assumed the worst," he said, removing his helm. "Thank Gwyn you're safe."

Quelana of Izalith was the youngest, yet the most cowardly of the seven Daughter of Chaos and for one such as himself, who was constantly surrounded by brave men and women alike, she was someone who frequently made his heart skip several beats with her fainthearted personality. But that didn't stop her from burning the arch-trees to ash and becoming the Mother of Pyromancy. It was at the end of the Dragon war that she professed her love for him, but alas he chose duty over love.

The last he visited Izalith was around a thousand years ago on an extermination campaign, when Gwyn still held power and the flames weren't in dire need of rekindling. The great witch had attempted to create an artificial flame, with her own soul no less. All it did was create the Flames of Chaos and spawn abhorrent demons out of the inhabitants of Izalith. He had inspected each and every one of the demons he and his battalion of Black Knights had slain that day, hoping with all his heart that Quelana weren't among them, that she had somehow escaped. Someone seemed to have heard his prayer as she was alive, and relatively untouched by the Flames of Chaos as well.

He lifted her hood and frowned. A thousand years and she was still as beautiful as ever, yet the tear tracks on her face were recent.

"What is wrong?" he asked, worry clouding his features.

She took a deep breath.

"I have sent my pupil to slay my mother and my sisters," she said, and started crying once more. "It seems like I'll never be like you."

He held her close, with a burning desire to tell her that her family had all but turned into vile demons, but it wasn't why she was grieving. The day she professed her love, she told him how she wanted to be like him, the bravest of the knights, how she wanted to be with him and just be brave. And now, the only reason she was still alive was because she ran away, abandoned her family and now, she had sent her pupil to deal with her failures, once again she was running away. Crybaby Quelana. She had lost the battle against herself, yet again.

He longed for Artorias's infectious smile or his silver tongue. His voice was always the voice of a knight, command and serve. He didn't have the ability to make it all better with a few words. His voice was only charismatic in times of war, his words only soothing when facing impossible odds. Battle ran through his veins and he feared that his words would make matters worse than they already are. Closing his eyes, he readied himself. Sometimes the best way to combat pain and despair was to share it.

"I have protected and served princess Gwynevere for a thousand years, forsaken my comrades, my friends…" he hesitated for a second and continued. "…my love, and all for what? To be betrayed? To protect an illusion?"

She gasped but he continued on. This was as much for himself as it was to her.

"Artorias was swallowed by the Abyss, Ciaran's pillaged body lay beside his grave, Gough withered away without a purpose and I," he held back a sob, the idea of comforting her forgotten. "I was protecting an illusion," he held her tighter. "How blinded was I? I could have…"

He stopped in his words. Her tears had stopped, and now her eyes were full of sympathy.

"Come with me. Let us leave this wretched place and never return."

The words sounded hopeful even to himself. Yet she merely smiled and wiped away her tears.

"Go. I have matters that needs my attention. After which I will quickly follow," she said with her smile never leaving her face.

The smile which distracted him enough that he didn't even notice her move until her lips were pressed onto his.

"Goodbye," she whispered, and ran towards the entrance of Blighttown, leaving him staring at her quickly fading back.

The irony of their situation. She regretted running away and he regretted not doing so sooner. Quelana had always been an open book to him, so much so that she always kept her hood up, much to his plight. But for the first time in his life, he wished that she could have kept her hood up, for in that instance, he saw that she did not want to be like him anymore. The shaking of her frame when she kissed him, the fear in her eyes when she looked at him, the smiled that said that this meeting would be their last. That there was something far more badly to fear than death.

What was it that Artorias had told him when he tried to stop the man from venturing into the Abyss? The Abysswalker's advice before he went and became the very thing he sought to destroy?

"The anxiety of having done nothing is far greater than the one you'd face in danger."

Those were the last words he heard before 'Abysswalker Artorias' became 'Artorias of the Abyss'.

He really hated the word 'last'.

Ornstein hadn't left Lordran for a thousand years, and in those years, the world had changed far more than he could imagine. One thousand years ago, the witch of Izalith tried and failed to recreate the first flame. A couple of hundred years of war against the demons later, Gwyn burned his own soul to fuel the first flame. Before that, the Gods used to shepherd the humans, and now, humans completely dominated the world with their numbers. He suspected that Gwyn's death was the spark needed for the humans to create their own civilization as the human calendar suspiciously started from seven hundred years ago.

Sorcery was the new norm and miracles had all but died down. No one had faith in the gods anymore. Sad that his king had to burn himself to sustain the world and no one actually knew of his sacrifice, but reasonable as nothing lasts forever. This had made it easier for him to integrate to the norms of this new society, explaining to himself that it was the Age of the Dark. Not dragons, not gods, but men. What mostly interested him was the existence of dragons, which seemed to have disappeared some time recently. It would be only reasonable that not all dragons fell during the Dragon war. There were even rumors that one of them lived beneath Lordran. A pity they weren't around anymore, dragons could have at least satiate his thirst, instead the world was full of odd creatures, which could maybe entertain him for a time.

He had joined a human's covenant called Blue Pegasus, and strangely so the humans accepted him as one of their own in no time at all. In fact, they actually insisted him to join, being handsome some sort of requirement. The companionship between the members made him feel very nostalgic. Only, the number of women in the covenant outnumbered the men by three to one. And he was the tallest one of them, sticking out like a sore thumb. Yet, the only ones who actually felt out of place were the covenant's leader and its strongest warrior.

Of course, killing was strictly forbidden, but that didn't stop him from taking the spot as the guild's strongest.

It was the time of this year's Grand Magic Games and the Master begged Ornstein to enter. He didn't want to enter as having a Champion of the Gods was a clear disadvantage to the other guilds, but he was promised that this time it would be a bit different. For the Master to have gone through such length to have him enter, he decided to indulge the man. However, it was revealed to be a team tournament, much to his chagrin. He did not work well in teams. He was more used to giving orders and leading armies. Furthermore, he wasn't very sociable with the others in his own guild. Now, he wasn't as bias to humans as Ciaran, but he had his reasons. Humans did tend to die rather quickly.

He had earned himself a reputation of completing each and every one of his quests without the use of magic, little did they know that he wasn't much of a mage. The use of his armor or his spear were unrequired and now, he wore a loose, long sleeved white shirt with red tinted pair of pants and black shoes. None of which were chosen by himself. The other guild members happily complied in picking his clothes. This particular attire was chosen by Ichiya, and with heavy heart he admitted that the imp did have an eye for good clothing, just not for himself.

The white shirt accentuated his blond hair and slightly tanned skin and the red tint of the pants somewhat emphasized his sharp crimson eyes. The guild mark was situated at his left shoulder blade and the only weapon on him was a Silver Knight sword strapped to his belt and quite frankly, it was the only weapon he needed. The only form of magic he pictured to indulge in was reequip magic and only for convenience sake.

The magic tournament would be special this year as the old Fairy Tail members would be participating. Though it did pique his interest, he would participate as an extra, much like Jenny would, only to give them a chance.

The city of Crocus was nothing compared to Anor Londo, the city of Gods, but it was impressive for the humans to have built it.

It was the night before the tournament and Blue Pegasus had joined Fairy Tail to celebrate their return. Ornstein really felt like he didn't belong there. He rarely even talk to members of his own guild, what more would he have to converse with other guilds. Unfortunately, Ichiya did not comprehend the significance of the word awkward. Fortunately, the imp only introduced him to the main team. Introduced being the understatement. He all but boasted of their inevitable victory with Ornstein on the main team, as if he was flaunting his own abilities.

Everything was pleasant, up until someone mentioned the word Dragonslayer. From old habits, he started sizing up the two dragonslayers of Fairy Tail, and among the two, Wendy gave him the most confusion. How could such a small child slay a dragon?

"Hey you," the pink haired Dragonslayer shouted out. "Why are you glaring at Wendy?"

Ornstein quickly got out of his reverie and eyed the child once more. She was twitching in discomfort and he realized that he must have subconsciously treating her as one of his squires. After all, there was no leniency in times of war, certainly not when it was against dragons.

"I apologize for my rudeness. I was merely amazed at her. For her to be able to slay dragons at her age is simply remarkable," he apologized politely.

Just because they were humans, didn't mean he shouldn't apologize for his blunders. Yet he couldn't fathom why every word that came out of his mouth when he was being polite always seemed to be dripping with sarcasm. This was why he didn't like talking. He missed barking out orders.

"So, how many dragons have you two slain so far?" he asked to defuse the hostile tension. "Dragons sure are a handful at times, aren't they?"

Everyone only seem to pale at his question.

"Ki-Ki-Killing Dragons?" Wendy squeaked nervously while Natsu was giving him a glare.

"I don't like you," he state out. "You reek of death."

"Natsu, that's rude. Sorry about that," Lucy reprimanded and apologized for the Dragonslayer. "But slaying dragons? Isn't that a little…"

"I was joking," Ornstein quickly amended, and the crowd of anxious people sighed in relief and started laughing.

He hadn't expected the Fairy Tail's dragonslayers to be so apprehensive on the topic of dragons, mainly because every human he'd met so far loved to boast about their abilities, which went doubly for the members of Fairy Tail, but they were strangely wry about the topic of dragons. It was as if they knew what the horrors of fighting a dragon entailed.

In a way, Ornstein could commiserate with them. The dragons weren't easy foes, and for every one of them he took down, he'd have to see a handful of his own comrade's fall. There was a reason why dragonslaying was considered the greatest honor for a Knight.

He excused himself and exited the building, the antics of the humans too ludicrous for him to indulge in and his advanced hearing started picking up some secret whispers he wasn't meant to hear. Making his way through several alleys, he stopped before a platform of sorts which overlooked the entire city, the moon being the only source of light there.

"When are you going to stop following me?" he said and turned to the dark alley from where he recently exited. Like he expected, the shadows vanished to reveal a vibrant red haired woman.

"When did you find out?" she all but demanded with a glare. "Speak!"

"Such arrogance," he said. "Such overconfidence, you people never fail to amuse me."

Holding the hilt of his sword, Ornstein chuckled.

"Why don't you make me?" he continued. "I'll even let you have first blood."

The woman suddenly summoned a longsword out of nowhere and dashed towards him. When she was close enough, she struck out with a slash, which he effortlessly stopped with his own sword, half of which was still in its sheath. Another sword appearing on her free hand told him to back step the slash and completely unsheathe his sword.

He could see how reequip magic was so useful, the ability to change weapons and armor mid combat could change the pace of the battle in a heartbeat. This Fairy Tail woman whose name eluded him, was clearly a master of the art and could change whole weapons and armor in a blink of an eye. The most he could do was a single piece of armor or a weapon every ten seconds. However, he had several millennia of experience fighting skilled swordsman and giant demons alike. The strength of a human fell short before him as he equipped a Silver Knight shield in his free hand and parried every attack the woman threw at him.

"Reequip: The Knight, Heaven Wheel Armor"

Probably frustrated at the lack of progress, she changed her armor into one which left her abdomen completely exposed, while adorning metal breastplate, gauntlets, a large skirt with metal plating in the upper area and two pair of metal wings. Never had he thought of breastplates to be so literal. The clothing couldn't be called armor by any stretch of imagination, so he concluded the damn perverted outfit to be enchanted. Like he expected Scarlet's speed increased after her transformation and now, she could fly.

"You're a knight?" he asked in curiosity. "My name is Ornstein of Blue Pegasus. What is your name?"

It was clear custom for knights to give out their names to their opponent if they give their own, but she had already introduced herself earlier, so she annoyingly complied.

"Erza Scarlet of Fairy Tail."

He smiled. "My apologies for forgetting Ichiya's girlfriend."

The grimace she gave was palpable.

"Now," he continued. "Give me a reason to remember it."

Scarlet was skilled with swords, that he would whole heartedly admit to, but she wasn't as skilled as Artorias, so he could manage just fine. He was of course, the fastest knight in Anor Londo. He was so fast that he was the only knight who didn't carry a shield in combat, his armor and spear was all that he needed. And right now, he didn't have his heavy spear or his armor on. There wasn't a single chance for her to touch him.

Scarlet must have realized this, so she started using long distance attack with homing swords from the air instead. Half of the weapons he dodged with ease, the other half were grabbed in midair and thrown back at her. The weapons disappeared before they could make contact, but he threw them nonetheless.

"Black Wing Armor!"

Abruptly, Scarlet's body glowed and in the place of the outfit which revealed her midriff, came the outfit which revealed everything below her breasts. The armor was black with crosses adoring several places. The most prominent of the change, excluding her lack of decency, could be supposed as a pair of bat wings at her back and a greatsword along with them.

Instantly she dashed towards him with her sword raised and used the momentum of her descent to slash vertically at him. He weighed the pros and cons of dodging and ultimately blocked. The force of the impact was tremendous, it seemed like the armor increased the attack power of the wearer, though it didn't make him buckle under the strain.

"You're good," he complimented, all in while dodging and blocking several slashes. "Better than those joke of a Rune Knights."

"Why aren't you attacking back?" she questioned in rage.

"I told you, I'd let you have first blood," he said with a condescending smirk. "Or maybe you're not that good."

"Why you…" she cursed, and readied herself for a magical attack. "Moon Fla…"

"HAULT!" a Rune Knight shouted, stopping Scarlet from executing her move. "Fighting between guilds outside the tournament is forbidden. Which guilds do you two belong to?"

By now, many people had already gather to see what the commotion was about and the reverberation of the Rune Knight's shout was all they had registered. Scarlet looked like she was about to explode, so it wouldn't be a very bright move to let her handle the situation. Ornstein didn't care much about the tournament, but being the lone cause of disqualification would be mortifying.

"You have us mistaken," he said, slapping his hand on the redhead's mouth. "My friend and I hail from the same guild. As you can see, she is rather anxious about the tournament and I was helping her ease her stress."

To a none-mage, who didn't know the purpose of Scarlet's lewd looking outfit, the two culprits looked rather suspicious. It didn't help that 'helping her ease her stress' had a double meaning.

"Kinky." Someone stated.

"Young folks these days." An old man scolded.

"Such a guild shouldn't be around," a woman pronounced.

"So bold." A girl whispered.

"I want a boyfriend too." Her friend cried.

Such a misunderstanding for no clear reasons at all, typical humans. The dark souls they possess always… wait did that woman just shield her daughter's eyes. Scarlet was rather calm about the comments, or incredibly dense when it came to her wardrobe.

"Alright, but you two should stop disturbing the neighborhood," the Rune Knight acknowledged his answer. "Either way, which guild do you belong to?"

"Oh, we apologize for the inconvenience," Ornstein replied. "We're from Fairy Ta…ouch!"

Scarlet had bitten him, hard enough to even draw blood. Then she grabbed him and flew away from the sight, leaving most of the people booing at Fairy Tail. Once far enough, she unceremoniously dropped him midair and landed herself. Of course, it didn't faze him in the least as he had dropped from flying dragons enough times to prefer taking the immediate shortcut while exiting the Princess's chamber. It did however, anger him to be interrupted so rudely while he was quite simply diffusing their suspicions.

"I had the situation under control," Ornstein said in annoyance. "What made it a good idea for us to escape?"

"Your question is invalid." She said in a deadpan.

This Bitch. Her impromptu escape actually made the situation worse, and Scarlet actually had the balls to glare at him with her arms crossed, as if she did nothing wrong. Other people may take her bullshit, but not him.

"Your reckless behavior actually made our position more dismal. Not only did you decrease the chances of our successful and untraceable escape, but you also made your attempt at fleeing right at the moment the knight asked for the name of our guild," Ornstein scolded with an icy cold glare, the ones generally reserved for green Silver Knight rookies. "Furthermore you left an audience to give in their inappropriate alibis."

"B-but," she stuttered, essentially falling prey to his cold façade. "You told off my guild."

"Hmph, how stupid can you get? Fairy Tail is currently the single worst guild in Fiore," she glared at him again, but he continued unperturbed. "A guild nobody cares about. What do you think people would do when they find a couple of Fairy Tail members making trouble?"

She fell silent.

"Well?" he shouted out. "Give me an answer soldier!"

"Th-they won't care?" she squeaked.

"Was that a question?" he yelled to her face. "Or was that an answer?"

"They wouldn't care," she said looking angry again. "Is that why you…"

"Of course, they'd care," he scoffed, dissipating her anger into insecurity once again. "It doesn't matter if you're in the best guild, or the worst. People care about the things they fail to comprehend, and the fiasco you pulled will undoubtedly make them curious."

Her expression was somewhere between angry and confused, which would instantly turn to defeated and depressed, and back again.

"You hauled me away when I was about to explain what we were doing. Furthermore, you had that skimpy outfit on, it doesn't help that humans always assume the worst," he stopped her from speaking by putting a finger to her lip, narrowing his eyes when her expression turned angry once again. "I know your armor is meant to augment your strength, but what do the none-mages understand about it? They would see your armor with nothing outside face value, which is only accentuated by out precarious position. Now imagine, ninety percent of Earthland consists of none mages. If Fairy Tail becomes the best guild in Fiore, you'll make a lot of enemies, whether you want to or not. Enemies who aren't dumb enough to challenge you directly. Ultimately, your actions will leave a harsh impression on your guild. Now, do you understand the ramifications of your fault?"

Scarlet looked constipated in horror, as if she was having a déjà vu where she gave the same words to guild members who didn't care squat about collateral damage. He sighed in exasperation. Maybe he went a little too far with the army talk, she was just too smart for her own good.

"Don't worry," he said, shaking her off her daze. "What I said will only happen if Fairy Tail becomes the best guild in Fiore."

"…"

Ornstein groaned at his predicament. He was immediately forced to join Scarlet in a pastry shop to apparently, help her grieve. Said woman was inhaling a mountain of cakes, all in while muttering 'For the guild' over and over again. Frustratingly so, he couldn't use the 'I have an important quest' or 'I have to return to the guild' card against her, and she openly laughed at him when he used the 'I have a girlfriend' card.

"Can't you eat cakes with one of your guild buddies?" he asked with his fingers intertwined and elbows on the table. "I'm sure they'd make much better conversationalist than me."

"I can't face my guild right now," she mumbled with her mouth full of sweets.

"Hmph, let me guess, 'For the guild'," he grunted, and smirked. "Perhaps Ichiya then. I hear you're rather familiar with him."

Now she was glaring daggers at him once more, but he didn't mind. She couldn't punch him away because she needed his company, and he wasn't so kind as to not take this opportunity and make her suffer. It made him remember of Ciaran. Little Ciaran, you can't assassinate your own Captain now, can you? The nostalgic memory left him feeling tired and lonely.

"What's wrong?" Scarlet asked with a raised eyebrow.

"It's nothing," he hastily replied, which only made her narrow her eyes in suspicion. Hesitantly, he complied. "You remind me of an old friend."

"I thought you didn't have any friends," she said nonchalantly.

"I thought you followed me just for the heck of it," he replied with an obviously fake smile.

The momentary slipup made her choked on her cake which she quickly washed it down with her tea.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she said, finding the corner of the table too interesting to look at him.

He chuckled at the sight. "If I didn't know better, I'd say you've fallen for me."

"Fat chance," she scoffed.

"You're not my type anyways," he conceded with a nod. "I much rather prefer Lucy."

"And why is that?" the redhead asked.

Ornstein smirked. "Because you're fat."

"So Scarlet, why were you following me again?" Ornstein asked for the umpteenth time, walking three paces before the aforementioned redhead.

"I wasn't following you," she disagreed.

"Oh? And what is it that you're doing now?" he questioned incredulously. "How is tailing me everywhere not following me?"

"We just happen to be going in the same direction," she said. "After all, Fairy Tail and Blue Pegasus are having a party together."

"Then shouldn't you be included in that celebration?" he pointed out. "It was after all, for your safe return."

"I was taking a breather," she said. "It gets difficult with Ichiya around."

"I hardly call stalking random people and destroying pastry shops a breather," he snickered. "It's not like I particularly care about what you think, but I for one had nothing to do with the disaster of a mess you made of the pastry shop."

"That wasn't wholly my fault," she protested. "And what were you doing outside when the party also included you? It's somewhat suspicious that you suddenly leave once your friends conclude introducing you."

Ornstein snorted. "I thought you thought I didn't have any friends."

Scarlet huffed but stayed silent.

The sound of laughter and music reached his ears. Lights, celebration, and the sign of the HoneyBone hotel reached his vision. Human partied like there was no tomorrow, it was something he would whole heartedly agree on.

"This is as far as I go," he said, turning to the redhead. "Excluding your idiocy tonight…" she glared at him again, to which he gave a smirk. "…I actually had a pleasant time."

Scarlet smiled and crossed her arms. "I could say the same to you. Though…" she narrowed her eyes. "Where will you be going?"

"To bed, Mother," he said to her face and vanished before she could destroy any more property.

Ornstein stood atop the building beside HoneyBone, watching the redhead enter the hotel with a glare on her face. Silently, he jumped down onto the alley and approached the window to the room which had both the main teams and the Masters, along with a few guild members present. Blending into the shadows, as Ciaran had taught him, he watched as Scarlet entered the room and closed the door with too much force than needed. Her glare immediately had the effect of Natsu, Gray and Lucy trying, and failing to hide behind Wendy, whereas Ichiya winked at her in his usual manner.

"Erza," Makarov called calmly. "What did you find out about Ornstein?"

The scowl on Scarlet's face darkened at the mention of his name, as if about to explode. Natsu's cat just happened to be too stupid to understand that.

"She likes him," the blue cat said while holding in his laughter.

A kick sent the cat flying out the window. Scarlet schooled her rage at the behest of the Master and composed herself. Ichiya said something, but Ornstein ignored him.

"Should we really be doing this behind Ornstein's back?" Hibiki questioned, looking unsure about the whole meeting. "He is an S-class mage of Blue Pegasus."

The Blue Pegasus members of the gathering agreed with him.

"I understand how you feel," Makarov said. "But we cannot overlook the possibilities."

He jumped onto a table and continued. "There are too many mysteries surrounding him. I sensed a very unusual aura from him. It's hard to explain. It feels like he isn't human at all, coupled with the fact that he deliberately avoids human contact and the absurdity of him completing S-class quests without the use of magic, it's only understandable that we'd be curious."

"And he smells of death too," Natsu added. "I don't like him."

"Wendy thinks so too," Carla supplied, much to the child's plight.

"I-I think he smells like death too," She stuttered.

"Wait," Eve called out. "Let's not jump to conclusions," he turned to Scarlet. "What did you find out Miss Erza?"

The redhead closed her eyes, as if thinking on what to say and, by his estimation, what not to say and nodded.

"He only used reequip magic to summon a shield. Everything else was just brute strength and pure skill. He didn't even use any form of augmentation magic or sword magic," Scarlet said sagely. "And he said he likes Lucy."

Ornstein bristled at his perch. So apparently, Scarlet could go from being incredibly smart to incredibly dense in just the span of a sentence.

Lucy blushed in embarrassment. "We just met and we haven't gotten enough time to get to know each other and he likes me and what do I do if he asks me out but he is handsome and cute but he's also participating in the tournament, what if we fall for each other and we have to fight against each other's guilds and it slowly breaks us apart and…"

"The mind of a fiction writer," Gray commented looking just as pale as the rest of the guild members.

Ornstein snickered. He wouldn't need to read Lucy like Quelana at all. She'd just babble everything without even noticing it. Either way, it was obvious that no one had anything against him, but just to be sure, he was going to spend an extra fifteen minutes scrubbing himself in the bath.

"Men… Worry not Natsu, I will personally help Ornstein with a perfume that will make him smell beautiful."

The chill he felt on his spine outweighed his need to spy any further. Hell NO!

Review ;P

And don't forget to read The Age of the Dark.