Hello denizens of the internet this is Kallerston, proud to present the first chapter of the new story I've been cooking up.

I've had this idea in my head for a while and now after months of thinking, planning, drafting and rewriting, the fruits of my labour are ready to be sewn.

To anyone who hasn't seen my profile (which let's be fair is probably most of you), I recommend you go there and read the story titled 'A day in the life of Cryptid's'. While it is not mandatory, each chapter of that story briefly introduces the main characters as well as their designs and an example of their abilities. Alternatively if you only want the designs there is always my DeviantArt account where I have made drawings of them for your convenience.

WARNING: THE FOLLOWING FAN-FICTION TAKES PLACE AFTER THE EVENTS OF FAIRY TAIL CHAPTER 545 AND EPISODE 328, I.E. AFTER THE END OF THE SERIES! AS SUCH MINOR TO MAJOR SPOILERS WILL BE PROMINENT THROUGHOUT THIS STORY INCLUDING THIS CHAPTER! IF YOU HAVE NOT FINISHED THE SERIES AND DO NOT WANT TO GET SPOILED TURN AWAY NOW! ALL OTHERS READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!

So enough with the introductions. I present to you "A Cryptid's Dream" I hope you enjoy it.

Note: Fairy Tail is owned by Hiro Mashima, Kodansha Comics, and A-1 Pictures. Please support the official release.

"In a land far, far away, lies the Kingdom of Fiore. A small peaceful nation of 17 million, and a place filled with magic! Found in every home, bought and sold in every marketplace, for most, magic is merely a tool, a mundane part of everyday life. For some however, magic is an art, and they have devoted their lives to its practice. These are the mages. Banded together into magical guilds they apply their skills in search of fame and fortune. Many such guilds dot the landscape of Fiore. But there is a certain guild in a certain town that soars high above the rest, one from which countless legends have been born... a guide that will no doubt continue to create legends well into the future. Its name... is Fairy Tail."

"In the not so distant past the Fairy Tail guild went to war against the strongest military nation in the world; the Alvarez Empire. This war brought together the strongest sources of magic from across the globe to the Fiore Kingdom in an event that almost ended all of civilisation, resetting it from the beginning or destroying it completely. However, thanks to Fairy Tail and their allies, Alvarez was defeated along with the deaths of the Black Wizard Zeref and the Dragon King Acnologia. Now four months after the final battle a new era has already begun, and a new era brings new faces, new challenges and new possibilities. For you see this story will not focus on the Fairy Tail guild. Rather this story shall instead focus on another guild, one whose name has yet to ever be muttered even once by this nation. A guild created by six extraordinary individuals, whose power and influence will shape this new era in Fiore's history. Its name… Cryptid's Dream."

Fire. An inferno of heat and light that incinerates all that comes in contact with its presence, fuelling its self-destructive existence and spreading its influence. These flames of destruction surrounded a nearby city, consuming it and leaving nothing behind but charred remains of what had previously been. The screams of terrified people filled the air as they ran for their lives. Trying to escape this living purgatory that filled the dark of the night.

Crouched in fear was a small child. A girl with short blue hair wearing a light blue dress, who was coughing as she lay trapped under layers upon layers of fallen wood.

"Mommy~! Daddy~!" The girl cried out in between coughs from the smoke in the air. She could feel the heat, the pressure, the pain weighing her down to the ground. In her eyes she could see through her tears through thin cracks the whole world burning around her. "Anybody~! Please help!" Her voice grew weary and tired as she saw glimpses of people running away, leaving her to die. "Mommy…Daddy…anybody…help…me…" The girl's voice shrunk down to a whisper. A pitiful sound that no human could hear, as she coughed again, her lungs filling with ash. The girl's eyes grew heavy and her senses dulled. Her face lay down, as she waited for the cold embrace of death to cool her.

A sandal crunched the nearby ground as a dark silhouette stared at the large pile of wood ahead of them. Taking another step closer they exhaled before taking in a large breath of air. The strength of the silhouette's lungs making the wind blow towards them, causing the tips of the flames to flicker in place before they like the wind, began to get sucked towards the silhouette. Their fleeting light partially illuminating distinct features such as unusually sharp canines, a white scaly scarf flapping in the wind, and the tips of their spiky pink hair.

The girl opened her eyes, feeling the heat of the fire getting drawn away and the impurities in the air along with them. The sound of inhaling stopped before a series of loud cracks were heard above the girl's head. An immediate weight was lifted off her shoulder's allowing her to look up and see the light of the remaining fires around her. There standing above her was a: dark, spiky haired silhouette throwing away the pieces of wood that once lay on top of her before turning back and looking at her dead in the eye.

The two remained motionless, silhouetted behind the light of the flames while dying embers flew around them.

"Mmm~ Hmmm~"

The sleeping murmurs of a dreaming passenger groaned inside a train carriage. Their head resting softly on their shoulder length blue hair, pressed against a nearby window. All of a sudden, the carriage suddenly bumped and shook making the passenger slowly open her eyes before stretching in place and yawning.

"What time is it?" Rebecca 'Beck' Flow asked herself as she stared out of the window.

The view from the window showed the vast outside. Tall grey mountains peaked in the distance with miles and miles of greenery rushing by as the train approached an oncoming town.

"The train will terminate at the city of Ash in five minutes. Please gather your items and prepare to leave through the nearest exit." The train's conductor stated over the intercom.

"The city of Ash?" Beck's face stayed still before suddenly puckering, making her eyes became large white circles. "I MISSED MY STOP!"

Beck slammed her face on the table in her booth, groaning in annoyance. When she was done, she slowly picked her face back up only for her nose to be partially squished into her face. Sighing, she pinched the tip of her nose and pulled it back out.

"You know what? This is fine. This was meant to be." Beck rubbed her chin beginning to smile. "I don't think I've ever visited Ash before, I wonder what it's like?"

Ash, the city in question was located near the west side of the kingdom of Fiore, an area of the kingdom where the world seemed much quieter, where the most exciting things that happened were only read from newspapers. It was peaceful if you liked that sort of thing. However, with peace there must come conflict and in an area this quiet, the erupting conflict is certain to bring a great deal of noise with it. In fact, it has already begun to sound.

In one of the many small homes in the city a newspaper was slowly pushed through a flap on the door, landing with an audible flop on a welcome mat. The newspaper uncurled across the ground revealing a concerning headline on the front page.

January 18th X793

Second mass disappearance discovered in the city of Sage.

Underneath showed a photograph of the city in question, which showed houses, streets, lamp posts, everything covered in a black powder.

The Magic Council has released a statement asking people to remain calm as an official investigation into this incident as well as a similar one weeks earlier in the city of Basil has begun.

The information ended there, enticing people to read further into the paper as pictures of smaller less notable news stories covered smaller areas of the front.

The shuffling of a pair of feet walked over the floor of the house as a thin, wrinkly hand picked up the paper and began to read the front.

"Sage as well. That's not too far from here." The elderly man sighed, scratching the underside of his hairy chin. "Oh well. I can't stand here worrying all day, I'm too old for that."

The man's hand rolled up the newspaper and placed it in a wicker basket held in his other hand as he opened out of the door. Taking a step outside, Kurt Sol took a deep breath through his nose before exiting his house completely and going about his daily routine.

Kurt joined the street of people all walking down towards the same end. All of them barring two; a pair of hooded individuals. One a young man who wore a black cloak fastened to their clothes by a cross shaped broach. The other a little girl who wore an orange hoodie whose face was hidden but not her long bangs of purple hair.

The two made their way through the town, with the black cloaked keeping eye and ear out for anything suspicious. In the back of his mind however his thoughts drifted back to why they were in the city in the first place.

The black cloaked man slowly turned his head towards the orange hooded girl. "Are you sure this city will be attacked next Leben?"

The orange hooded girl nodded, turning to the cloaked man. "Based on the similarities from the previous incidents, the most likely settlement if they were continuing in this pattern would be here in the city of Ash. Do you doubt me father?"

"No, I'm just making sure. And must you keep calling me Father?"

"You prefer me not to call you Zed and since you direct me and care for my wellbeing, Father seems like an appropriate title." Leben explained. "If it is not to your liking would you prefer an alternate title such as Master, or perhaps daddy?"

Zed Pitch sweat dropped under his hood and looked away. "No… Father is fine."

"Okay Father."

Zed sighed refocusing on the task at hand. "And you still haven't picked up any Black magic users so far? Not even something similar like Darkness magic?"

Leben shook her hood covered head. "Not yet Father. In fact, there appear to be very few magic users in this city. Even lacrima is scarce in some areas." Leben looked to Zed. "Have you heard anything?"

"No, not yet. So far everyone we've come across appears to want a similar thing, good health and a quiet life. I suppose that's to be expected from a small city like this." Zed looked left and right at the crowds of everyday people keeping eye and ear out for anything suspicious. In the back of his mind however his thoughts drifted back to why they were in the city in the first place.

Zed and Leben stood in a recently deserted night club, looking down on soon to be ex-active criminal Antonio Parson. The scene dated back to around a week ago where Leben had managed to 'convince' Antonio to explain one of his past dealings.

"A dark guild? Are you absolutely sure?" Zed asked.

Antonio nodded. "Yeah I'm sure. He was real hush, hush about it. But he let slip that he didn't want his guild mates knowing about our arrangement. Figured no regular guilds would make a deal with me so he has to be from a dark guild, right?"

"Is that all?"

"Well there was one other thing." Antonio nervously gulped. "The men I sent to do the job… they never came back."

"And you didn't question it?"

"After hearing about what happened in Sage. I didn't want to risk thinking about it."

Zed calmly began to think. "Well you are telling the truth. But the fact that a dark guild is doing this is hard to believe. After Tartarus was defeated in X791 and the Baram alliance collapsed, dark guilds have substantially declined. I thought Avatar was the last major dark guild in Fiore… perhaps this one is relatively new." Zed shook his head before turning to Leben. "We should go Leben, based on this Black practitioner's previous attacks we can only assume they'll target another city soon."

"Very well Father." Leben responded as she walked alongside him.

In the background Antonio got up and turned towards his desk. "Finally. At least it's all o-"

Before he could finish a cold, black miasma passed through his body. He went cold, stiff and pale before collapsing onto his face for the second time that night.

Zed looked at him with his right hand covered in darkness. "Apologies. But we will have to turn you in for your crimes. I'm sure that when you come to, someone will be here to pick you up."

Zed slowly focused back on reality focusing on the vast quantity of people in the streets ahead of him.

"Perhaps it's best if we try to narrow our search. I very much doubt our practitioner would just walk around in the open, they'd want to stay somewhere isolated, somewhere quiet where they can remain alone." He explained.

"Understood Father."

Zed held back another sigh and glanced up at the clockface from a large bell tower that overlooked the city from its public square. With his attention somewhere else Zed failed to see someone heading his way, causing the two to bump into each other.

"Hey! Watch we're you're going!" The spiky haired teenager yelled.

Zed turned to see the dark skinned individual, noticing his agitated but not vengeful expression.

"My apologies." Zed calmly spoke as he and Leben walked around the man and back through the oncoming crowd.

Tai Way sneered at the hooded man who had just walked into him before he turned around and kept on walking. His stomach suddenly growled and he placed his hand over his stomach as the hunger pains made him flinch.

"I know. I know. Just hold on a little longer alright." He spoke softly to himself.

It had not been easy for Tai. From the slight muck on his kimono and the amount of dirt under his exposed toenails, it was clear that he hadn't taken care of himself well. He couldn't even remember the last time he ate, the closest was when he was allowed into a pub only to get kicked out for beating up some guy who had it coming. He didn't help himself but Tai didn't regret his decision, though that didn't change the fact that he needed a wash and some food.

As Tai walked around a corner into another street, he passed by a rather large house that stood apart from the other houses by having a visible extra floor of height to it. Inside the tall house another teenager around the same age he was or slightly younger was working hard, tracing his glowing green finger over one of the walls.

"Almost done a~nd… there." Percy Wellcomp's finger dimmed as he took a step away from the wall. "Let's see that's: the hallway, the two living rooms, the three bathrooms, the two guest rooms, the master bedroom and the… and the…" Percy yawned loudly, a sign of his growing exhaustion. "…the… the pantry. That just leaves the basement and the cellar… and the attic… and the…" Percy yawned again.

Walking towards Percy was a man who appeared to be in his mid to late thirties wearing a pink polo shirt and sleek white trousers. Giving him an air of cleanliness and class helped by his blemish free skin and clean blonde hair.

"You okay there? You need a break?" He asked.

"Huh? Um I mean no sir I can carry on just-" Percy yawned again, even louder than previously.

The man just shook his head. "It's okay boy. I'd rather have you fully rested so you can finish my security properly, than have you potentially mess it up in this half-asleep state of yours. Go out into the city for a bit, get some air. It'll do you good."

Percy finished his yawn and slowly turned towards the front door. "If you say so… maybe a break will do me good…" Percy walked outside the door and took a breath of air before walking down the street. Cautiously looking back and forth to make sure nothing bad was going to happen around him. "…right?"

The piercing sound of a train whistle cut through the air around Ash's train station to signal the arrival and departure of locomotives nearby. Walking out of the station was Beck, casually placing her hands behind her head and puffing out puffs of air repeatedly.

"Okay Beck don't freak out this is just an accidental adventure." Beck suddenly leaned over with a defeated expression on her face. "Oh, who am I kidding dad is gonna kill me. That is if Call doesn't ring me out like a wet towel." Beck straightened her posture and clapped both her hands on her cheeks. "But that's future Beck's problem. Present Beck has some exploring to do."

Despite the major shifts in mood she displayed in the last five seconds, Beck relaxed and began her sightseeing. Despite the rather quaint surroundings Beck showed a high level of interest in everything he eyes gazed upon. From the large clock tower that could be seen above all the other buildings in the city, to the small shops placed here and there filled with nick knacks as well as the occasional magic shop filled with arcane goods to be purchased. Her travels soon took her to a large marketplace set up with a large variety of food stalls. Fresh produce, slow cooked meats, baked pastries, fine cheeses, jars of jams and chutneys and more provided a wide array of smells so pungent that you could almost taste them.

Beck was practically drooling at the yummy foods ahead of her. She walked closer to one of the many stalls when she noticed something that snapped her back to reality; the Jewel price. Reaching into the pocket of her skirt she pulled out two things: a train card that she used to travel to and from locations by train repeatedly and a small amount of money that added up to around 65,000 Jewel.

Beck sighed. "Let's see minus money I'm saving for the guild, general expenses and…cabbages. I should have around 1000 Jewel left. That should be plenty for… for… orrr~"

Beck's gaze was transfixed on one particular food stand's delicacy. Bathed in the glorious light of a dozen heart lamps were several large stew pots. Each one emitting a thick veil of steam that filled the nostrils with mouth-watering smells. Beck walked up towards the alluring food as though she were possessed here eyes aglow as she waited in line to get some. Her time almost came when she finally noticed the price listed as 1700 Jewel.

Beck stopped in place and fell onto her knees in her defeat. "Why world must you be so cruel?"

"What the heck?! It wasn't that pricy yesterday!"

The agitated voice of the person in front of Beck quickly brought her out of her moment of despair to focus on what was happening right in front of her. Taking notice of the spiky red-haired person in front of her and the sheathed katana on his back.

"Well that was yesterday sir. This is the price today, if you're not happy with it you can look elsewhere for your lunch." The woman in charge of the stall explained.

On the other side of it Tai grumbled, tightly clutching the Jewel that he did have in his hand.

"Freakin' cheapskates." Tai whispered harshly under his breath.

Beck stepped in front of Tai with an open outlook about her. "Excuse me sir. I couldn't help but overhear you. Since I was standing behind you and all."

Tai looked at Beck and grunted. "Look I get it you're impatient and want me to move. Just give me a second-"

"How much Jewel have you got for food?" Beck interrupted.

Tai blinked in surprise at Beck's interruption, slowly beginning to answer. "About eight hundred Jewel. Why-?"

"Perfect! You see I only have a thousand Jewel myself but I really want to have some of that stew. So why don't we share one? It won't be as much as getting one for yourself but it's better than nothing. Come on what do you say?"

Tai stood there in silence at the offer the girl in front of him was giving. Typically, people wouldn't even bother to look at him and here this complete stranger was offering to help him buy a meal. Granted it was for her benefit too but her offer seemed sincere and she seemed just as happy to help feed someone else as she was to feed herself.

The woman behind the stall leaned forward. "There's a large line of people here, if you don't order soon then I'm afraid I need to ask you to lea-"

"Just give us a minute!" Beck retorted making her lean back. "Thank you kindly."

Tai snickered. "You're pretty weird but it's not like I'm in any fit state to turn down a meal so sure, we'll split it."

Beck turned back to Tai smiling brightly. "You will? Great! By the way the since we're eating might as well get acquainted. My name's Rebecca but you can just call me Beck. What's yours?"

"Can't honestly remember the last time I've ever had to introduce myself to someone. But the name's Tai."

"Um excuse me but if you're ready to order-" The food vendor began to say.

"We're about to!" The two answered back in unison.

The woman leaned back in shock, stunned by the youthful synchronised energy that these two strangers just exhibited.

"S-Sorry…"

Zed and Leben had continued their patrol for quite some time and so far, came up with nothing. The two walked along the quieter, emptier pathways close to the outskirts of the city, going at a slow pace to make sure neither of them missed anything.

"Not here either. This is becoming annoying." Zed whispered.

"Father, did you say something of importance?" Leben asked.

"No. Unfortunately." Zed stared down an upcoming alleyway, before closing his eyes for a second. "I can say with certainty that the person we're looking for isn't around here. We need to narrow it down further."

"Without further information, narrowing down a specific location will require estimation and guess work. It will not increase the odds of finding them by much."

"Well it's better than the odds we have at the moment."

Zed led the way into the alley with Leben tailing in his shadow. Making their way halfway down the alley Zed turned and leant his back against one of the house sides around them, taking down his hood to reveal his face at the same time. Leben stood facing him and undid her hood as well revealing her emotionless expression that stared deeply at Zed with her unique eyes.

"It is unlike you to get tired so easily from just walking Father." Leben pointed out.

"I'm not tired, I just need to think." Zed replied looking down at the cobblestone ground. "This black practitioner is somewhere in the city and the longer it takes for us to find them, the longer they have to do to this city what they did to Basil and Sage. I just need some time to think."

The striking memory of the previous cities came back to Zed. Cold, lifeless ghost towns that were covered in black ash that looked as if people had abandoned them centuries ago. He recalled arriving in Sage a couple of days after its incident was reported about, then the same with Basil. Both were too similar to be a coincidence with everything pointing to Ash being next. Yet there was hardly a Rune Knight in sight. That was the problem with the Magic Council, they spent too long waiting for details to show in the light that they forget there are things going on in the darkness. A darkness that only Zed could navigate.

"Have you finished thinking yet?" Leben interrupted.

Zed slowly shifted his eyes up to meet Leben's. "No. Not yet."

"Would it not be more efficient to continue our search rather than standing in this alley. If you are tired than I could continue without your assistance."

Zed straightened his posture and stood away from the wall. "I'm not tired, but I will be if we keep aimlessly navigating the city. We know this assailant would want to stay out of the public eye but we haven't managed to narrow it down any further." Zed looked up towards the sky. "How much longer will this take?"

"To borrow the phrase 'God only knows'." Leben responded.

Zed looked down back down at Leben with a serious expression. "Very funny. But let's be serious for a moment." Zed turned away from Leben and faced the wall, going back into deep thought.

'I need something. Anything…' He thought while he stayed quiet, going into a near meditative trance.

Zed closed his eyes, his world view dimming until it became nothing but black. There was no movement, no energy and no sound as he began to disassociate himself with what was immediately around him. Beginning to listen to the world around him.

'I'm so hungry. I want to eat.' One voice asked for in his head.

'So sleepy. I want to go to bed.' Asked another.

'Please make sure my grandpa gets better.'

'Give me the strength to keep going.'

'Please let it be sunny tomorrow.'

'Help bring a beautiful girl on my path. I'm so lonely.'

'Please make sure nothing goes wrong today. Please.'

So many voices echoed in Zed's head. Each one from a different person and each one asking for something different. The constant demands seemed never ending, enough to drive a regular person mad. But Zed remained still and relaxed in a regular position, not moving an inch or swaying in the breeze. However soon Zed opened his eyes, his posture and expression remaining serious and concerned.

"Still nothing. I'm not used to finding someone in such a public area." Zed spoke softly to himself. "Very well Leben I suppose I can listen to one of your strategies just as long as we don't-"

Zed turned around to find himself all alone. The place where Leben once stood unoccupied, with no remnant that she had even stood there. Zed just clenched his fists and sighed heavily. "Split up. Perfect… Just perfect."

Walking in the town square, Percy nervously looked around the new unfamiliar environment of the city. Unlike Beck who thrived in exploring the unknown, Percy felt like a fish out of water constantly looking over his shoulder and second guessing every decision he just made.

"Right so I just came from there so… maybe next I should go… there?" Percy pointed in seemingly random directions at specific buildings and streets not sure of where he should go to continue his walk. He turned and looked past the statue in the centre of the square at the clock tower high above everything else in the area. "So it's been seven minutes since I left huh. That's probably enough of a break… probably…"

Turning around Percy slowly walked back towards where he came from, keeping his head low to the ground and staring at his shoes. He rubbed his hands to warm them in the winter chill before placing them in his pockets with his left hand gripped around his red notebook. Feeling a sudden aching sensation in his head Percy pulled his right hand out and began rubbing his temples together. He unintentionally began to slow down as soon his eyes were beginning to sting resulting in him leaving his head alone to massage his eyeballs.

"Ugh… I feel so groggy. This walk didn't even help at all. I should have just carried on working, at least then I could sit down in a chair." Looking around Percy spotted a nearby restaurant and walked closer towards it. "Maybe I can find a place to sit down in there."

Stepping inside the restaurant Percy waited in front of a 'Please wait to be seated sign' and took in the atmosphere. He noticed many people already inside sitting at tables, getting served, waiting for their order or happily tucking away into the food in front of them. The sight of people eating made began to make Percy's mouth go dry and his insides feel empty as he remembered he hadn't eaten or drank much so far in the day.

Soon a waitress appeared in front of Percy, staring at him expectantly. "Do you have a reservation?"

"A reservation?" Percy repeated. "No. I'm afraid I don't. Will that be a problem?"

"I'm afraid so. We're currently fully booked up, with the only tables available being ones that have been reserved for later. I'm sorry but if you will have to come back at a later time if you want to be served."

Percy nodded in understanding. "I understand. Sorry for taking up too much of your time."

"Now just hold on for a minute."

Percy and the waitress turned to the newly opened door seeing Kurt entering the restaurant and making his way towards them.

"Oh, Mr Sol. I thought we had already received our regular delivery from you." The waitress stated.

"You have. This visit is purely for pleasure purposes, I was told that I had a drink on the house waiting for me." Kurt explained.

"We are fully booked right now…" The waitress looked down at a clipboard in her hands that contained a list of reservations. "However, if it's only a drink you want then I suppose we can sit you over at table nine. At least until the party arrives in fifteen minutes."

Kurt smiled at the waitress. "I appreciate the kind gesture madam. I'm sure that is more than enough time for me and my guest."

Kurt patted Percy on the back widening his eyes in surprise. "Your guest?"

"That's what I said didn't I? And people tell me I have wax in my ears."

The waitress stepped aside and gestured to the table. "Please, if you would both follow me."

She walked on ahead with Kurt following close behind her. Percy hesitated briefly for a moment when Kurt turned his head around and gave him a comforting smile, the kind a grandfather would give his grandson.

Percy slowly took a step forward, then another as he made his way to the table. "He's just an old man anyway. I doubt he would really want to do anything bad to me… I hope."

Breath. A deep suction of air into the lungs providing oxygen as well as other gasses into the body to circulate and provide aerobic respiration. However, this breath was not one filled with air but with smoke, with ash. A man cloaked in darkness took a deep breath of the cigarette pushed against his lips, the light from the bud illuminating him ever so slightly as tiny flakes of ash drifted off towards the ground. Lifting it away the man exhaled a large puff of smoke before forming a toothy grin showcasing his stained yellow teeth gained from his habit.

"Lady Gluttony… soon you, this kingdom and the Nanatsu no Taizai will see my greatness. The greatness denied to me for so long." The man placed the cigarette back in his mouth to take another euphoric breath. "One more. One more city reduced to ashes and then I will be ready to make myself known." The main's grin only widened with the dim light of the bud lighting up his cheek which showcased a guild mark. A purple insignia bearing a resemblance to the number '7' that had a snake's head hissing at the very bottom making it also resemble a flipped letter 'S'. The mark soon disappeared as the light from the cigarette had gone, and the ash began eliminating any remaining traces of light.

From a more open corner of the city Zed suddenly froze in place. His eyes pupils shrunk as his expression became one of fright and deep concern.

"This feeling… Black magic." Zed looked up, taking a sharp breath before quickly sprinting off in a specific direction, not even caring when his hood flew off his head. "The practitioner is making his move right now!"

From another more densely crowded area of the city Leben also stopped in place and pulled the hood off her head. The rings in her eyes began expanding and contracting, trying to focus. In Leben's unique vision she could see something, tiny black particles that floated through the air that to anyone other than her were invisible to the naked eye.

"Unique black magic signature detected. Beginning analysis and tracing back to its original source." Leben remained motionless in the street making may people look at her in confusion as she didn't budge. Her mind entirely focused on something greater.

"Phew. Finally, a place we can sit down." Beck plumped her rear on a nearby bench, happily smiling to herself. "Still I suppose this is karma for making all those people wait so long for us to finally order."

Tai sat down next to her nonchalantly. "Don't waste your time feeling sorry for those people. The fact is if they were in our position, they would have taken their sweet time for just as long as us, if not longer. Believe me."

Beck just sat with the bowl of stew on her lap, warming up her legs. "Yeah, you're probably right. Now let's dig in! Come to mama!" Beck dipped the spoon in the thick broth, scooping up the liquid and food chunks. Blowing on her meal she went to put to in her mouth when her eye was caught by Tai messily shovelling mouthful after mouthful into his mouth. "Someone's hungry. You look like you haven't eaten in days."

Tai glanced towards Beck, momentarily pausing from his lunch. "Well you're not entirely wrong."

Beck tilted her head in confusion. "Huh? What do you mean?"

Tai quickly looked away back at his food. "Never mind. Don't think about it, just eat your food. You just said before we should dig in."

Beck remained unconvinced as she continued looking at Tai. She then began to notice details that one would normally miss from just a short glance: the dirt on his clothes, the unkempt greasiness in his wildly long hair, the way he sat as though he felt an uncomfortably ache in his back. Combined with his low food funds the gears in Beck's mind finally clicked.

"You're homeless, aren't you?" She softly asked.

Tai didn't immediately reply, instead he put his eating spoon to his side on the bench. "…That's none of your business."

Beck slowly reached into her skirt pocket. "I don't mind if you are you know. You seem nice enough, but if you're down on your luck then maybe I can-"

"Don't you dare pity me!" Tai sharply shouted making Beck flinch.

"Pity? What do you mean?"

Tai placed his stew to the side. "A few minutes ago, you saw someone just like you and you offered to split lunch. Now you learn one little thing and suddenly you want to give me money you can't afford to get lose. What the hell kind of logic is that?!" Tai looked down at the cobblestone ground. "You look at me and you see a helpless, grovelling man. Like I'm lower and weaker than you, when I'm not." Tai angrily got to his feet. "I really need to get going."

"Hold on Tai! Wait!" Beck cried out, standing up. "I'm not pitying you I'm just-" Beck sighed. "If you really need to go, then go but… I want to help because it's what I do. I like to help; I'm not looking down on you."

Tai grunted. "Yeah. Right."

As Tai began to head of a small black spec gently floated in front of his face. His eyes traced it fluttering gently to the ground as slowly more and more began to float around him. He looked behind him to see Beck also looking around at the falling specs as they grew to greater and greater numbers.

"What is this? Some kind of black snow?" Beck asked herself. Some of the black specs landed on her skin making her instinctively scratch herself in those areas. "It's kind of itchy, and burny."

While Tai was much more covered up than Beck, he could still feel some black specs brush up against his check or his bare hand. He scrunched up his hands resisting the temptation to itch himself and looked back at Beck.

"I've got a bad feeling about this." He muttered.

"AAAAAAAAAHH!"

The sudden scream made the two teenagers present look back towards where they came from, hearing the sounds of terror coming from the food market.

Almost immediately Beck narrowed her eyes and ran off in the direction, leaving Tai and her food behind.

"Hold on a minute! You're heading towards the panic not away from it!" Tai warned.

Beck turned her head back while she ran forward. "I know. But people might need help."

"Save that for the professionals!"

"Who knows how long they'll take to show up?! Until they arrive somebody needs to help!"

Beck faced forward picking up speed towards the market while the continually falling black specs blew past her. Standing in place Tai just gritted his teeth while the black specs began to form piles around him.

"How dumb is that girl? Doesn't she realise she'll just get herself killed." His thoughts went back to when she offered to help pay for lunch and offering to help him out, making him clench his fist. "Idiot…"

Beck however was undeterred in the slightest by Tai's words. She ran straight ahead as fast as her legs could carry her before quickly bending them and leaping incredibly high into the air to travel an even greater distance in a shorter time.

"Come on. Come on. Hurry up." Beck told herself.

She landed on her feet in a crouched position and jumped again travelling even higher and even faster. While in the air she looked up at the sky which had significantly darkened as a result of incredibly dark clouds forming overhead that sprinkled down little black specs like snow and light rain.

'Okay this is weird. I mean it was already weird before but now that I'm actually paying attention it's super weird. What is happening?' Beck thought to herself as she began her descent.

The sounds of people fleeing in panic were everywhere and getting progressively louder as Beck fell closer and closer towards the ground. Finally landing on her two feet she looked around to see people running past her and the once lively marketplace growing cold. Beck scratched her exposed arms as more and more black specs fell and she even began to cough as the specs continued to fall.

"The air here. *cough* It feels like I'm breathing in smoke." Beck stated as one man stopped in front of her.

"You've got to get out of here! Or else they'll get you!" The man shouted in a panic.

"Who will get me?" Beck asked.

"HEEEEELLLLPP!"

Before she could get an answer the cries of someone bellowing to help interrupted her, making Beck run towards the sound of distress.

"Hey girl what are you doing?! Get away from here!" The man warned.

But Beck didn't listen. Instead a memory appeared in her head. The memory of her dream, of the scared little girl trapped alone in the dark, suffocating to death begging for someone to save her.

"Just hang on… Help is coming…" She whispered to herself.

Jumping once again she lept over the set-up food stalls landing on the other side. Beck's eyes widened at what she saw in front of her and she gasped.

"What the-?"

In front of her were swarms and swarms of people except they didn't seem right. The looked like people but the way they moved made them look like zombies with long heavy strides forward and limp arms that swayed from side to side. One turned their head behind them to see Beck where it revealed yet another odd sight. Their irises and the pupils were a very dark grey almost black, and gave them a blank lifeless leer.

The zombie-like man in front of her gave a low growl alerting all the others that she was there, making them all turn and face her with dead looks.

Beck gulped, clenching her fists and bending her legs. "Okay, I'm not sure who you are but someone needs my help so you better move out of the way. You got that?"

Clearly, they didn't as they all began slowly walking towards her with their arms outstretched. Beck clenched her muscles even tighter and began to feel a well of power build up in her bent, tensed up areas.

"All right. Don't say I didn't warn you." Beck suddenly released the tight pull on her legs. "Rubber Bullet!"

Beck shot forward at explosive speeds, her body crashing straight towards the entire wave of people in front of her. But when she collided with them, she tore through their entire bodies splitting them into pieces. Then their bodies slowly blackened and turned into the same black powder that fell from the sky, scattering over the ground.

Beck landed on the other side of the dissolving people before turning back to face them with a confuse look on her face. "Wait?! Those people are made of this black stuff?!"

"HELP!"

Beck looked off to the side where the voice came from and finally saw who it belonged to. The very same woman who served them their food minutes earlier, who was now sitting on top of her stall as the black powder people were trying to claw at her from below.

Beck looked at her with a determined look and bent her legs, jumping up into the sky and landing feet first right next to her on top of her stall.

"GAH! WHERE DID YOU COME FROM?!" The food vendor shrieked.

Beck raised her hands defensively. "Easy. Easy. I'm here to help. Now take my hand."

The woman eyed Beck up and down, gasping in realisation. "Wait, weren't you the girl from earlier?"

Beck nodded. "Yup. But now's not the time to reminisce. Come on we've gotta go."

The food vendor was hesitant but soon grabbed Beck's hand with a thankful smile. "Thank you. But how exactly did you get up here any-WAAAAAA!"

Beck leaped into the air, dragging the flailing food vendor by the arm as they wailed with blank, tear streaming eyes.

"Oh right, I didn't tell you. I happen to be a mage. Thanks to my Elasticity magic I can build up lots of elastic potential energy in my muscles whenever I tense them up. Plus, it makes me squishier and stretchier than most people which is pretty neat." Beck explained to the woman with her only response being more screaming and crying.

Soon enough Beck landed on the ground with her body elastic properties allowing her to absorb the shock no problem as she gently let the woman get to her feet.

"Don't worry ma'am you're all safe." Beck proudly declared.

"Th-Th-Thanks…" She muttered as she lowly recovered from her shock. "I was certain this city didn't have any magic guilds. Did you happen to come from a guild outside the city."

In response to the question Beck awkwardly rubbed her head. "Actually, I'm not actually in a guild… I'm actually trying to start one…"

The food vendor just looked at Beck with a disappointed look. "So, you're not actually a mage then."

"Well I am, technically. I'm just an independent one until I get enough funds to start my own guild. Which won't be for a long whi- *cough* *cough*"

Beck and the food vendor both gave deep throaty coughs before clutching their chests with one hand and rubbing their scalps with another.

"Ugh I almost forgot about how irritated I feel." The food vendor moaned.

"Yeah. Now that you're safe we should probably get out of-"

A sudden whirlwind blew in their direction picking up all of the black powder on the ground and swirling it into concentrated blobs. Soon the blobs began to take a more humanoid form and changed colour, transforming into another hoard of zombie-like people right in front of them.

Beck gulped at the sight. "Okay don't worry. I've got this!" Beck pulled her middle finger back, using her thumb to press it closer to her hand and build tension, illuminating the finger with a light blue magic power. "Elastic Air Pistol!"

Beck flicked her finger forward, shooting a pressurised air blast at the hoard in front of her that blew a chunk of them away into powder floating in the breeze.

"And there's plenty more where that came from!" Beck cried out prepping another attack.

Another air blast flicked forward chipping down their numbers even more as they struggled to even get close. The food vendor stood behind Beck with a look of awe on her face.

'This girl may not be in a guild. But her confidence and power make it sure seem like she is.' She thought to herself.

With the two of them looking at the people in front of them, neither of them noticed the smaller approaching group from behind. Their dull blank eyes were fixated on the two women while they opened their moths wide to let out quiet groans as they made their approach.

From the front Beck held her pushed middle finger forward. "Elastic Air Pistol!"

The air blast pulsed forward, smashing through the powder people and blowing them into dissolving pieces.

"I think I've almost got them all. Just a few more well aimed shots." Beck held her arm out once more still unaware to the oncoming danger from behind her.

Black powder began seeping out of the hoards' open moths and fingertips with the leader reaching their hand out ready to grab the food vendor's shoulder.

The sound of fast-paced thudding and sights of sandals dashing over cobblestone quickly approached from the background as a spiky haired silhouette lunged forward, with their ponytail flapping in the wind and their polished katana reflecting light onto their body.

"Watch your back!" Tai screamed from above.

Beck and the food vendor impulsively turned around to see the group of men ready to ambush them and Tai quickly falling at them. His sword glistened in the daylight slowly beginning to reflect more and more of it and shining even brighter. The light that was reflected took form around the blade becoming just as sharp as it and growing even longer and sharper than the katana itself.

"Mirror Cloaked Bright Blade!"

Tai swung his blade down hard slicing through any zombie-like men under its blade and created a powerful shockwave that dusted any remaining stragglers.

Beck blinked in shock. "Tai!"

Tai's gaze looked over Beck's shoulder at the remaining group Beck had started fighting. "Get down right now!" Tai held his sword outwards from him, tilting it so the edge faced the two women.

Getting the hint, the two women ducked to leave the attacking group wide open, as Tai swung his blade horizontally.

"Mirror Cloaked Reflection Slash!"

A wide, sharp crescent of light reflected off the katana towards the hoard at the speed of light. In an instant the remaining hoard was sliced in half deteriorating into darkness.

With the threat passed Tai calmly exhaled and slowly sheathed his sword back into his sheath. "Phew that was close. With his sword sheathed Tai looked up to see Beck right in his face with sparkling eyes. "Huh?! Why are you that close to me?! Haven't you heard of personal space?!"

"Wow. You didn't tell me you could use light magic! And you enchanted your sword with it, wo~w!" Beck fangirled making Tai sweat drop.

"Okay two things. One I wasn't enchanting my sword with light magic, I use Reflection magic. It's a Holder Type magic that requires a reflective surface i.e. my sword. And secondly-" Tai banged his fist against Beck's head. "What the hell were you thinking?! Another second and you could have been dead! Have you got something wrong with your head or what?!"

Beck rubbed her head unfazed. "Hey! What I do is my choice not yours so don't judge me! And if it was so dumb how come you came here huh?"

"Because I-!" Tai stopped himself before he could finish. He stared at Beck and his expression slowly went from annoyance to sombre. "Let's just say I have a personal rule. If you face someone you have to treat them like you would want to be treated, like they were you. They're your equal your… reflection. So, when I see people treat others like crap, like they're somehow better than them while staring them straight in the eye, it pisses me off. But you… you offered to buy me lunch despite not knowing me. You charged head first into danger to risk your own life just to save someone else's. And I couldn't turn away so by my own twisted logic that meant I have to give you a hand."

Beck and Tai just continued to stare at each other in silence taking in what Tai said. Eventually Beck put her clasped her hands behind her back and smiled at Tai.

"Well I think that's really noble Tai. You're a really great guy and you deserve better, so when this is over let me help you. Not out of pity but out of kindness, what do you say?" Beck happily asked.

Tai just turned away and tutted. "I told you before, I don't accept pity or favours. I expect people to treat each other the same, that means no handouts."

"Well it wouldn't have to be a handout. You can use magic right and I can use magic so maybe you can help me start something, a dream of mine."

Tai looked back at Beck, curiosity overcoming him. "And what exactly is that?"

"Um excuse me." The food vendor interrupted right when Beck was about to answer.

Beck turned back to the food vendor with an annoyed look. "Hey I was about to ask something very important! Why did you interrupt me?!"

The food vendor didn't reply instead she point ahead where another larger wave of blank eyed people was heading their way, growling as with their arms stretched out and the mouths wide open.

"…Oh. Kinda forgot about them for a moment." Beck deadpanned.

Tai stepped forward drawing his katana. "Whatever you were spouting just now, save it for later. Right now, let's just focus on getting the hell out of here."

Beck smiled in response tightening her muscles and getting into a fighting pose. "OK! Let's do this!"

The two magic users stood ready to stand their ground as the hoard approached, ready to take each other down on the black speckled earth.

On the other side of the city Kurt and Percy were sitting on opposite sides of a table lit by candlelight. In front of each of them was a cup of tea served in a white, detailed cup that rested on an equally white and equally detailed saucer. Percy kept his eyes on his drink, keeping his gaze low and away from the elderly stranger sat with him. Kurt on the other hand picked up his cup with a clink letting the steam rise above his face. Blowing it gently, the liquid inside rippled while the steam began to flicker like a dying flame in the wind.

Kurt's eyes looked up from his drink to Percy looking at his. "Well, aren't you going to drink? It'll be a waste of the kind offer we've been given if you don't at least take a sip."

Percy flinched in surprise from being talked to, nervously grabbing his drink in response. "R-Right! Sorry…"

Percy's grip was wobbly, causing the cup to shake in his hands and spill drops of tea on the table cloth. Kurt saw his nervous disposition and gently lowered his cup back into his saucer before cupping both his hands around Percy's to settle his cup.

"There you see. Tea is so much easier to drink when your mind is as still as the brew." He calmly explained.

True to his word Kurt's tough, partially wrinkled hands comforted Percy allowing him to calm down and steady his hands.

"…Thank you, sir. I'm sorry I just have a lot on my mind." Percy met Kurt's eye contact for the first time. "It's sort of funny. I actually came out here to take a break and relax and here I am more stressed than before."

Kurt pushed Percy's cup back into his saucer and pulled away his hands. "You have no need to apologise to me young man. One never needs to apologise to someone else for worrying, if anything people must apologise to them for making them worry in the first place."

"Oh no-no! I'm not stressed because of you… Well maybe I was at first but-" Percy sighed. "I'm just tired and scared that I'm going to let people down. A lot of people count on me." Percy reached into his blazer pocket to pull out his red notebook. "You see… my full name is Percy Wellcomp. As in Wellcomp magic security."

"Oh, I recognise that name. I remember hearing about them back when I was a young man. Well younger man anyway." Kurt interrupted. "So, are you some kind of door to door salesman selling security systems?"

"No, not exactly. I suppose me, my older sister and I guess my older brother, well at least before he left and joined a magic guild somewhere. We provide a more personal service to particular wealthy clients. You see I may not look like it but I happen to be a mage. A mage with a very special magic passed down my family… Trap Enchantment magic."

"Trap Enchantment you say…" Kurt once again placed his hands around his cup. "I have heard of many forms of magic in my day but that is a new one."

"That's because only members of my family can use it. Unlike most trap magic that just places a seal or magic circle on the ground, my magic can enchant anything, turning it into a booby trap. Floors, doors, even valuable items can be enchanted so that only the owner can touch and hold them. That's the other thing, it can specify targets to be immune or susceptible to activating the trap. But…" Percy opened his notebook showcasing the incantations and instructions on how to perform each spell. "I can only remember the basics, I need this notebook to help me double check what I do know, and tell me how to do the more advanced stuff and even then I can't do all of it." Percy put his notebook away. "And the worst part is… I don't even like doing it. But I don't know what I do like doing and I can't just do nothing, I'm just- Gah! I don't even know! I don't even know why I'm telling you this either! You're a stranger I just met!"

Kurt saw the struggling Percy and remained quiet, not saying anything until he was sure Percy had finished speaking before smiling. "I don't what being strangers has to do with it. You were a stranger and I invited you to tea. Tea that you still haven't sipped yet." Kurt lifted his cup up and took a satisfying sip of his own brew. "Aaah~ Now that is refreshing."

Percy looked at his tea and the stains that were scattered around I before picking it up with a much steadier grip and taking a gulp from it. "Hey you're right. It is kind of refreshing."

Kurt kept his smile at Percy's response. "Let me tell you a secret of my own Percy. Not even I know what I want to do with my life. Even at my age I'm still not sure what I want to do with myself. It is not a pleasant feeling but it does remind me of one important thing."

"And what's that?"

Kurt finished drinking his tea and placed the cup on the saucer. "That you should keep an open mind and keep pushing forward. Even if you can only take one step in a week, that is still one step further than if you never moved at all. Life is not a race and someday you will figure things out." Kurt stood up, getting out of his seat. "Until then cherish each day as it comes and take everything you can get from it. Take just now where today I had a lovely cup of tea with a complete stranger and was rewarded with one of life's greatest pleasures."

Percy got up from his own seat, neatly pushing it under the table. "Thank you for inviting me for tea mister…?"

"Kurt. Kurt Sol. And I should be thanking you for the pleasant company."

"Yeah and I'm Percy… although I already told you that."

"There is no harm to share your name multiple times. Believe me, with my memory I appreciate the reminder every now and again."

The two walked ahead towards the door when Kurt suddenly stopped in place, going as still as a statue.

"Um… Kurt. Why did you-? Did you-?" Percy looked around Kurt to see what he was seeing, readjusting his glasses to make sure what he was seeing was actually happening.

Outside the windows of the restaurant they could see black specs gently falling down over the town square. Anyone who was outside was either mesmerised by the surprise weather or attempting to carry on with their regular life only to suffer from extreme bodily irritation or go into intense coughing fits.

Percy pulled out his handkerchief, rubbing the corner of it against the glass's lenses. Putting his glasses back on Percy stared at the outside once again in disbelief. "What is that? Coal dust from the train maybe? No that couldn't possibly be it."

"Percy." Kurt huskily uttered. "Stay inside. I'm going to go out and see what this is all about."

"Are you sure that's such a good idea though? What if it's dangerous?" Percy frantically asked.

Kurt didn't look back and show his serious face since he didn't want to frighten Percy any further. Instead he slowly walked towards the door. "Don't worry about me, did I not tell you? Back in my prime I used to be an S-Class guild mage."

Percy's mouth widened in surprise right as Kurt went through the door. "He's… an S-Class mage?"

Outside Kurt stood under the roof of the restaurant protecting him from at least direct contact from the black specs.

Kurt sniffed the air and grumbled. "The air feels thick and this smell…soot? Ash? But its colour is too dark. Still this magic I feel, it feels cold and vile in nature."

Kurt stroked his beard while he thought, noticing that throughout the crowds of struggling people there was a large group of them together that didn't seem to react to the ash. They weren't coughing or scratching at all, instead they were as stiff as a board unresponsive.

The door opened to his side catching his attention to see Percy walk out. "Percy? I thought I told you to stay inside."

"You did but I can't afford to wait around, I have a job I need to finish. So, if it's nothing then I really need to go." Percy explained.

"And if it isn't nothing?"

"Well if it isn't… I can't imagine anywhere safer than the presence of and S-Class mage." Percy reasoning while sincere also seemed unsure. Clearly, he was starting to worry and, in his mind, the best place to be was with the stranger that was able to keep him calm.

Kurt looked at Percy with a serious expression. "Look Percy I don't know what is happening right now. Nothing like this has happened since I've moved to this city years ago. All I do know is that from my experience it's best for civilians to stay inside and stay sa-"

"AAAAAAHHHH!"

Screams began to fill the city square shocking Kurt and Percy. The two stared at square to see the same once still people from before going on a rampage. Many were running for their lives and those unfortunate to be too close to the hoards were dragged kicking and screaming into large piles of them that pulled them in close and obscuring them inside their numbers.

"Is this some sort of an attack?!" Percy cried out.

Kurt narrowed his eyes, walking forwards. "I am not sure. But what I am sure about is that these people and this weather are connected."

"Wait hold on! I know you said you were S-Class but that was years ago and there's so many of them. Are you sure you can beat them all?"

As Percy's cries of concern went out, several men walked closer to Kurt. Their eyes grey and blank and their movements sluggish and zombie-like.

Kurt just smiled and clapped his hands. "Beat them? Why would I waste so much energy doing something like that?" He slowly pulled his hands away revealing a sticky, pale yellow, waxy substance covering his hands. "When it would be so much easier to just contain them."

Kurt raised his hands up above his head where the waxy gel began to grow in size and become a large sticky blob that he threw outwards.

"Wax-Make: Sticky Trap!"

The wax blob suddenly split apart into several smaller blobs that splatted against the attackers, pinning them against the ground unable to free themselves from the sticky substance.

From under the restaurant roof Percy gaped. "Wax-Make… He uses molding magic?"

Kurt walked towards one of the trapped men kneeling down to get to their level. "Now then. Since I'm sure you'd much rather want to speak to an old man like me than a Rune Knight, why don't you tell me; who are you and what are you doing here?"

The man opened his mouth wide and gave a quiet groan before his body began to go black and form black specs that fell to the ground or remained stuck to the wax spell. Kurt kept a stoic expression as he placed his middle and fore fingers into the pile and rubbed his fingers.

"This is definitely ash but to have it move on its own that freely. Not even moulding magic could accomplish that." Kurt suddenly began to feel his fingers began to get irritated and felt a stinging, burning sensation. Creating wax in his other hand he rubbed it over his fingers to wipe away the ash and place it on the ground, though a slight stinging sensation remained. "This is no regular ash magic."

Getting onto his feet Kurt noticed that the other ash people he incapacitated had also returned to ash. An ill wind blew around him and ash began to whirl together into another small group of people all around Kurt, surrounding him.

"So as soon as these ones turned to ash, more take their place." Kurt analysed clapping his hands once again. "You know I really was enjoying my retirement. Wax-Make: Floor!"

Kurt slammed his hands over the ground, covering it in a slippery layer of wax that made the ash people struggle to stay on their feet. Kurt ran towards the closest one near him surrounding his hands in wax and knocking it over with a palm strike. Clapping his hands together he spun around and thrusted his arms at the next out at the next ash person, while opening up his hands.

"Wax-Make: Stream!" A concentrated stream of wax pumped out of his hands as though they were a hose nozzle, washing over the ash person to send them down onto the floor stuck under the wax's weight.

Noticing the two approaching from his sides he clapped his hands again before punching the ground. "Wax-Make: Candlestick!"

The ground under each of the attackers rumbled slightly right before a column of wax erupted from underneath them. Both columns rammed themselves into their respective attacks' chest, the column going deep enough that each of their back's bulged as their insides were pushed that far in. Granted their insides were nothing but grains of ash.

Kurt relaxed as around him his attacks slowly disintegrated to ash. Taking a moment, he took a deep breath in and out when his eyes widened and he suddenly clutched his chest. He loudly started coughing, unable to stop once he had started.

'This burning sensation in my chest. This dry feeling at the back of my throat. I must have inhaled too much of this ash.' Kurt realised.

Putting his fist against his mouth he tried clearing his airways and slowly the pain was getting better. But as he stood now, he was completely incapacitated leaving him open as ash suddenly began to get picked up and glide towards Kurt. Taking form in mid-air the ash become a man with his hand stretched out and his fingers pulled back, his fingernails ready to slash at him as black ash seeped out from under them. Kurt turned to face him but was forced to cough, his only defence being to raise his other arm to take the attack for him.

The man foot reached the ground in front of him providing leverage for him to lunge forward and attack… when it glowed bright green. As though time slowed down Kurt noticed the green glow and noticed in the corner of his eye Percy standing to the side with a handkerchief over his mouth and his right forefinger glowing green.

'I made this trap in a rush and without double checking my notes so it probably isn't too good. Against a regular person it wouldn't do much good, but-'

Percy thought back to Kurt taking down everyone and how when they were defeated, they were turned into ash.

'If these things are really made of this black dust. Then it won't take much to break them!'

A second finally passed and the ground under the grey eyed attacker suddenly detonated in a green magic explosion. While the force was about as strong as a firecracker it was enough to completely blow his foot and lower leg off. The man's mouth widened to let out a silent scream as he slowly turned to ash and fell to the wax coated ground from the ground up, the last thing disintegrating being his clawed hand which fell apart inches from Kurt's face.

With a brief moment of peace Kurt finally managed to clear his throat. "You know for a young man who worries a lot, you're pretty good in a pinch."

Percy stared at Kurt with a reserved look. "Believe me that only worked because he wasn't actually a human. Besides if my brother or sister here they would have done it much faster and better."

Kurt walked over and put a supportive hand on Percy's shoulder. "What does it matter if there are people who could have done it better? They're not, here are they? All that matters is that when I was in trouble you were the one that saved me. Not your brother or your sister but you. You saved me Percy."

Percy blinked not sure of what to say. Deep inside he was beginning to feel a warm, happy sensation much more powerful than any thanks he had received when he had finished enchanting a house. Before he could think more on these feelings though, large piles of ash began to form into the air around the two of them, slowly forming into large blobs.

"Now the time for words is over. Can I count on you Percy?" Kurt sincerely asked.

Percy paused but nodded affirmably. "Yeah. You can."

The two got ready by applying wax over their hands or preparing a glowing green finger to inscribe an enchantment as the two stood side by side.

"Deconstruction."

The blobs of ash suddenly began growing a bright blue, breaking apart and breaking down until it vanished from existence leaving no trace. Walking up to Kurt and Percy through the falling black ash was their unlikely saviour, a little girl.

"This area is highly dangerous. If you remain here very longer your health and wellbeing may be put in jeopardy. The best course of action would be for you to leave immediately and seek shelter and safety." Leben logically explained to the two.

Percy and Kurt just looked at the purple haired girl with confusion. On her sudden appearance, the fact that she just saved them, how she saved them, her odd eyes. These were some of the many questions that went through Percy's head.

"I-? Huh-? Did you just… get rid of them?" Percy asked.

Leben nodded. "Indeed. I deconstructed the present black magic into its primary elements, nullifying it."

"Black magic? How can you tell?" Kurt asked.

"I cannot afford to share that information. My Father has instructed me that due to the nature of what I can do, it is dangerous for me to inform unknown individuals of it." Leben answered.

"Your father told you this?" Percy asked while he was still trying to figure things out.

"That is what I have just told you is it not."

"And just where is your father?" Kurt asked.

Leben blinked. "I do not know. I left him to improve the odds of finding a black practitioner in the city. I would assume that given what is happening all over the city he is likely attempting to find this practitioner as we speak."

Percy and Kurt just continued looking at Leben who stared back at them with emotionless eyes. Despite their difference in age and backgrounds they both shared the same thought… What was going on today?

"Elastic Air Pistol!"

"Mirror Cloaked Reflection Slash!"

Pressurised air and razor sharp light broke through another wave of ash people, clearing a temporary path for Beck, Tai and their food provider to get through.

"This way *cough* we won't have long before they come back *cough*." Beck warned.

"Yeah, yeah I'm coming *cough* *cough*." Tai walked forward keeping a close eye on his katana. It's light slowly dimming and its reflected length and sharpness falling as a result. Tai gritted his teeth and looked downwards the sky seeing the dark grey clouds getting darker as black specs continued to fall.

'Damn it those clouds are blocking out the sun. Since I can only reflect light instead of generate it, I'm getting weaker by the second.' Tai was interrupted by his thoughts by a sudden urge to cough that came over him. 'Plus, it doesn't help that my insides feel like crap and my outsides feel like I'm burning in hellfire. What the hell is this stuff?'

Beck looked behind her seeing Tai close behind her but the food vendor lagging behind. "Hey lady are you alright?"

"…" The lady couldn't respond.

In truth she probably felt just as bad as Beck and Tai if not worse. Unlike a mage's body's which gains a small resistance to magic due to the power constantly flowing through their bodies, regular people who are only used to trace amounts of Ethernano in the atmosphere suffer the full effect. At this point the woman's breath was hoarse and the irritating, burning sensation was still going strong but she so weak and tired that it provided a merciful numbness to it all. But as it stood, she was not in fact alright.

Beck noticed her struggling and slowed down, turning around to fully face Tai. "Hold on a minute. She needs help back there."

Tai heard Beck's request and was ready to go back when his eyes widened. Behind Beck, ash began swirling around taking form into another person ready to fight.

"Move it!" Tai warned running straight for Beck.

The ash formed into a person right as Beck turned to face him. Going for a scratch Beck quickly bounced up high into the air making him miss and leaving him open to Tai slicing them in half. The disintegrated back into ash right as Beck landed on the ground, leaving her confused.

"Huh? Just the one this time. That's strange." Beck pointed out.

"Yeah, that is strange. Why would only one pop up unless…" Tai gasped. "It was a distraction."

Tai quickly looked back at the food vendor with Beck quickly realising what Tai meant and doing the same. They turned to see her still there on her own, with no potential ash people in sight. She looked up at the two gasping for air with a confused look on her face.

"Why have… you both stopped? Is something-?"

Hidden away a mysterious mouth opened wide to form a wicked smile, letting a lit cigarette fall out of their mouth. Landing softly on the ground, the lit end partially rebounded upward as the light from its fire began to create flickering sparks in the air suddenly igniting the black specs all around it. A chain reaction of explosions went off at blazing speeds igniting all the black ash in a series of explosions that reached the food vendor. Beck and Tai's eyes were monetarily illuminated by the rising flames, giving them just enough time to see the woman staring at them completely unaware. Less than second later the flames reached her engulfing her and making the area around her erupt in a fiery explosion. The hot winds blew black ash into the air and made Beck and Tai brace themselves as their feet were partially pushed back.

The hot winds ended letting Beck and Tai unbrace themselves and witness the destruction first hand. The area where the woman once stood was completely charred black any stalls nearby were either knocked over or blown to pieces. The two teenagers were speechless as they couldn't believe the murder they just witnessed when the sound of crunching started coming towards them.

"So, you two were the ones who tried to deny me my glory. Well at least you two."

A gruff male voice accompanied the sound of crunching as a malicious stranger came into Beck and Tai's view.

The man had fair skin and long black hair that flowed underneath a white fedora with a black stripe. He stared at Beck and Tai with dark blue eyes showing a sadistic grin that showcased his teeth that were stained a pale yellow due to his smoking. He wore a white shirt that was covered in vast amounts of ash that it almost looked light grey especially at the ends of the sleeves which looked black with ash. Despite that the rest of his attire weirdly spotless and included a violet tie, grey dress trousers and black dress shoes. But the most notable feature was the purple tattoo on his right cheek that looked like the number seven, that extended at the bottom to form the head of a snake.

The man shook his head. "To think the first people, I would come face to face with would be a couple of kids. Hardly the attention I deserve."

Tai tightened the grip on his katana and gritted his teeth. "You bastard." He hissed.

Beck just gaped in shock, clasping her hands over her mouth. "That woman… you just…"

"What you mean that?" The man gestured the scorch mark behind him by pointing at it with his thumb. "If you're so worried about her, then don't worry. I'll bring her back right now."

Not sure of what he meant, Beck and Tai didn't have much time to think about it as he flicked his wrist up making the black mark float above the ground and slowly take form. Becoming more humanoid and taking more familiar features. When they finished forming Beck and Tai couldn't believe their eyes. From the ashes rose the food vendor except something was wrong. Her slouched posture, the quiet groans that escaped her mouth and her eyes becoming dull, grey and lifeless.

The grinning man just chuckled. "See. There she is, good as new. If not better."

It took a moment for it to hit Beck but when it did, she gasped and she felt her body go cold and stiff for a second. "W-Wait. If you brought her back from her ashes does that mean…?"

Beck's thoughts trailed back to all of the countless people appearing, that she and Tai had defeated one by one. Charging through them, blowing them away, stabbing them, slicing them. It dawned on Beck that they weren't simple creations, they were people. Or at least they were people.

The man chuckled. "Yeah my Cremation magic really is something huh. With it I basically hold life and death in my very hands. Pretty amazing right."

"Amazing…" Tai hissed, the grip on his katana so tight that blood vessels were beginning to show under his skin. "You just killed an innocent woman in cold blood. No, you've killed much more haven't you?" Tai pointed the tip of his sword in the man's direction. "Haven't you?!"

The cremation mage shrugged his shoulders. "And what if I have? They were necessary sacrifices to build up my numbers."

Beck slowly managed to recover from the shock just enough to hear the last of his words. "Your numbers? What do you mean?"

"Oh come on, isn't it obvious. Cities like this are small fry, but even small fry can be useful when you have enough of them. Because after I'm done with this place…I'll have an army big enough to take this whole damn country for myself. And for every city I turn to ash, I get a few more thousand soldiers to add to my forces." The man raised a finger and waggled it in front of Beck and Tai. "Soon everyone will be bowing down in awe of the powerful Zor Bosch! Commander of the dead! And the greatest mage of all time!"

Zor lifted his head and cackled maniacally, a twisted smile plastered on his face the entire time. The sight of which making Beck and Tai sick to their stomachs.

"This guy's insane!" Tai yelled.

"Yeah, he is…" Beck whispered, clenching her own fist. "He needs to pay for this."

Zor lowered his head back down to see the two young mages and raised his hands, coating them in black ashes. "It's a shame really. The first two people who have witnessed my awesome power in person and they'll die before the get the chance to see me take over. Oh well, at least you'll make good servants."

Zor clawed his hand sweeping it in an underarm throwing fashion, sending forward a massive cloud of black ash in a fast-moving burst. Reacting quickly Beck stepped in front of Tai and pulled her middle finger back.

"Elastic Air Pistol!" Beck flicked her finger forward, shooting a blast of air that blew the ash over to the sides.

"So, I guess we're fighting this guy then?" Tai looked towards Beck.

"Something tells me we don't have a choice." Beck answered back while the ash cleared, showing Zor preparing another attack.

"Good! The way he kept going on about how he was better than everyone else really started to tick me off!" Tai quickly held his blade so that the wide blunt side face Zor. "Cover your eyes!"

Beck nodded in confirmation and closed her eyes tightly shut, allowing Tai to start making his katana shine.

"Flashback!" Tai's katana reflected all the light in the area out in a wide radius, blinding Zor with its powerful rays.

"Dammit. I hate it when light gets in my eyes." Zor complained covering his burning eyes with his hands.

Tai's spell faded with him and Beck unharmed unlike Zor who was seeing blotches in his vision from exposure to the brightness.

"Make him pay!" Tai ordered.

Beck opened her eyes and got into a runner's starting position. "On it! Rubber Bullet!"

Beck lunged at Zor at shocking speeds only for him to smirk. When Beck's head rammed itself into his stomach Beck passed right through him just like she did through his ash victims. Beck landed and turned back to see Zor's bottom half had become black ash that was keeping his top half levitating above the ground.

"Nice try kid. But those kinds of tricks won't work on me!" Zor flew through the air towards Beck with his right hand reached forward and seeping with black ash.

Beck flicked her finger forward with another Elastic Air Pistol, making a hole straight through Zor's chest that soon filled itself back in as he closes the gap. With his finger's inches away a crescent of light sliced through the air and sliced his arm off, turning to ash before it hit the ground. Zor clenched his teeth and looked at his severed stump of an arm giving Beck an opportunity to tightened her fist and pull back her arm.

'He's distracted. Now's my chance!' Beck quickly realised.

Beck felt the energy surge into her tightened biceps and threw an elastically enhanced punch that ripped through Zor's stomach out of his back.

Beck gasped as she struggled to remove her hand while Zor faced Beck and gave her a toothy grin. "Don't waste your breath. Have some of mine! Smoker's Breath!"

Zor puffed out a large cloud of black ash in front of Beck's face. The stinging, burning sensation of the ash on her skin and in her synesis made her cough and splutter uncontrollably as her hand dislodged from Zor's stomach and she fell onto her knees, struggling to breath.

Zor reformed his lower half and reached into his pocket to pull out a cigarette lighter, flicking the top off. "With all the ash on your clothes, your skin and in your lungs a single spark should set you off like a bomb. And if not… well for your sake let's hope it does."

Massaging his thumb on the lighter's sparkwheel he watched Beck unable to stand as she spluttered and choked on the ash inside her body. With both the passive amount that had been falling on her from the sky and the extra from Zor and his servants she could barely inhale properly.

"Don't forget about me you bastard!" Tai yelled as he leaped forward with his katana reflecting light. "Mirror Cloaked Bright Blade!"

Tai swung his katana hoping to slice through Zor's neck only for the light to fade at the last moment. Tai's pupils shrunk and he gasped seeing his blade did in fact go through something… the food vendor's ash body. Her as body embedded itself over the blade preventing any light from passing through herself to get reflected by it. As her body slowly fell away, Zor shifted his eyes to look Tai in the eye as he clicked the lighter.

"Too slow kid." Zor taunted lighting a spark.

The light from the sudden ignition began to glow in the air, igniting the trace amounts of ash. The light slowly began sparking towards Beck preparing to ignite her body when the light suddenly dimmed and faded into approaching darkness. Shade was casted over Zor's body surprising him and making him turn his head only to be slugged in the face by a dense black fist. Zor's body fell through the air landing hard on his back a fair distance away.

With a hand on her throat Beck looked up towards her saviour. Dispelling the light with his presence, his black cloak fluttered in the wind. Her saviour looked down to see Beck on the ground allowing his green eyes to meet with her blue ones.

"Stay down. Leave the rest to me." Zed said in a cold, calm voice. He turned his head to Tai and the final moments of the food vendor before her body fully became ash that lay dormant on the ground. "I'm sorry… I wasn't fast enough to save you…"

Zor used his right hand to massage the guild mark on his cheek while he pushed himself back to his feet with his left.

"Huh? Another kid? What, did school let you all out early or something?" Zor chuckled.

Tai held his katana evenly in front of him before beginning to go in a coughing fit and lowering his guard.

Zed calmly walked past him. "Do not interfere, you will only kill yourself in the state you're in now."

"Hey who asked you any-?" Tai was unable to finish as he began coughing moments later.

With Beck and Tai incapacitated and exhausted, Zed glared daggers at Zor. A thick black miasma slowly surrounding him. "So, you're the one who committed those atrocities in Sage and Basil. Taking innocent lives and using their remains as part of your sick plans. You truly are without any virtue."

Zor casually put his hands in his pockets, smiling at Zed with his stained teeth on show. "Wow you've really done your homework kiddo. To think I haven't even revealed myself to the public eye yet and old Zor has already gotten himself a number one fan."

"I am the furthest thing from a fan after all that I know. Now it's time your insane plans come to an end!" Zed answered furiously sending the miasma out in a wave.

Zor's lower half became a pressurised pulse of ash that rocketed him towards the sky, avoiding the noxious air. "So, you use black magic too? You really are a fanboy to be using the same element of magic as me. Of course, there's no room at the top for two." Zor raised his arms skyward, generating a black cloud of ash from his palms that swirled over his head like a raging whirlpool. "Sorry kiddo but comparing our magic is like comparing a mere man to a God! Now bow before me before you meet your end! Black Nimbus!"

Zor thrusted his arms down making the black ash cloud expand outwards as it quickly floated down towards the ground. Darkening the surrounding area, Tai looked down at his blade struggling to see any reflection at all.

'Crap! It's too dark to use my magic.' Tai thought.

Slowly regaining some control of her breath Beck looked forwards at Zed who seemed completely still at the approaching spell.

"*cough* Look out! *cough* *cough*" Beck warned.

Zed green eyes calmly looked up at the approaching cremation spell. "I had hoped that Leben could be here to assist but no matter. I should be able to handle this alone."

All light around Zed dimmed to darkness right when the black cloud crushed his body under its weight. The ash spread out so thickly and so widely that Zed could no longer be seen through it, leaving his fate presumed to be the worst. Beck and Tai's eyes widened as the ash hovered over the ground rushing towards the two of them. Closing their eyes, they prepared for the incoming attack and braced themselves…when nothing came. Instead all they heard was a peculiar sound. Slurping.

Opening their eyes, they witnessed the black ash cloud no longer expanding but instead contracting. Even ash floating in the air and resting on the ground was getting sucked inwards like a vacuum, moving towards a condensed point in the eye of the cloud. From above Zor descended and landed on top of one of the intact stands, the peculiar sight he was witnessing in front of him making his grin lower into a concerned frown. More and more of the ash was disappearing, until eventually enough had disappeared to show the cause of the disappearance. Standing with his mouth wide was Zed, eating the black magic and slurping each grain of ash down his throat like sherbet.

Beck awed Zed as a memory flashed in her mind, mimicking the two silhouettes staring each other from her dream. 'He's eating magic?! Then that must mean he's…!'

The last of the black specs went down Zed's gullet, as he sighed in relief and rubbed his sleeve against his lips. "Revolting. But that taste…" A memory went by in Zed's mind of wiping ash of the window in a ruined city and tasting it. "Now I have no doubts. You are the black practioner I have been searching for!"

Zed moved his arms in a circular fashion, crossing them and placing his middle and fore fingers on his forehead with one hand and pointed towards Zor with another. Before Zor could respond to Zed he felt a swell of power above his head that made him feel cold.

"Black God's Cruel Smite!"

A wicked column of Black magic crashed on top of Zor, crushing him under an immense concentration of darkness that destroyed the stall he stood on.

Tai looked on at Zed, staring at the slowly disappearing blackness. "Who the hell is that guy?"

"A slayer *cough*…" Beck answered getting to her feet. "A mage who has been enchanted with the properties of a greater being. In that guy's case a God."

"A God?" Tai looked over at Beck. "How do you know all that?"

Beck gave a weak smile. "I guess you could say… I owe my life to one."

With the column of darkness slowly fading in the light Zed stared at the wreckage he caused, unable to see Zor anywhere. All that remained of the man were black ashes scattered around the impact site. Ashes that were slowly being picked up on a light breeze, blowing them above Zed's head where out of his field of vision they began to swarm together and thicken into Zor's upper body.

'Damn brat! He's immune to my magic so what?' Zor brought reached his arms out and flexed his hands behind Zed's neck. 'There's more than one way to suffocate someone. Once I wrap my hands around him, I won't stop until he's-'

Zed turned around, grabbing Zor's arm before he could finish his thought. "Was that really the best idea you could have come up with?"

Zor's arm quickly turned back into ash causing Zed's grip to pass through him while he quickly ascended towards the sky. "Phew close one good thing he can't touch my ash-" Zor suddenly felt his body go stiff feeling an inescapable force pulling him back towards the ground. Looking back down he could see the ashes falling from his lower half were getting sucked into Zed's mouth. "No way! He's actually eating my ash body! I can't risk going out like this!"

The ashes making up Zor's lower half spiralled and vanished transforming back into his legs, the consequence of this being that he had no way to keep himself in the air making him quickly fall to the ground. Running up to his helpless body, Zed focused his magic into his right fist smashing it into his chest.

Zor spun in the air, rolling and tumbling over the cobblestones picking up ash while he did. Coming to a stop his body ached especially his chest which he needed to support with one of his hands. Struggling to lean up he saw Zed running straight towards him with no signs of him slowing down or showing mercy. Stretching his remaining arm out in Zed's direction, swirls of ash began manifesting in the air taking form into more ash people to serve under him.

Zed frowned at the display and put his hands together. "Cowering behind the dead. What happened to all that pride you had a moment ago?" From his hands Zed moulded a black ethereal scythe which he twisted to face the hoard.

"Black God's Reaping!"

The black scythe tore through each and every one of the ash people that stood against its edge. Their bodies ripped into two, slowly breaking back down into ashes. With them cleared out of the way it revealed that sitting up behind them was a smiling Zor holding up cigarette lighter.

"Bought just enough time. Now Burn!" Zor clicked the lighter sparking the trails of ash that fell from the disintegrating bodies. The ignition burned its way along the black trail, expanding and combusting with intense heat and force that illuminated Zed's figure, blowing his cloak in the wind before he was bombarded with an earth tearing explosion. The intense winds and blinding light made everyone present cover their eyes, unable to take in the destructive sight in front of them. When everything began to calm down Zor was the first to open his eyes, his pupils shrinking at the sight entering them.

"Did you forget already?" Zed calmly asked Zor, unharmed from the blast. "I'm immune to your magic. Igniting it on fire won't change the fact that it's black in nature, I should know. Now allow me to demonstrate." Zed inhaled deeply taking a large breath that filled up his lungs and puffed out his cheeks.

"Black God's Bellow!"

An eruption of darkness burst out of Zed's maw in an intense black beam that shot over the ground into Zor. His body was eclipsed by the darkness, its negativity tearing everything through its wake, slowly going thinner until the breath attack ended.

Standing at the beginning of the trench his final attack made, Zed looked across it to see Zor on his back with his fedora knocked off his head and his body covered in scratches and black bruises. Casually walking over to him Zed kept a calm look on him showing no signs of exhaustion or fatigue.

Beck just watched him walk, her look transfixed on him. "Woah… that guy was… so cool…" Taking a step forward Beck felt all the energy in her body disappear, tripping up and landing on her side.

Hearing the sound of Beck's body drop, Tai gazed down at her collapsed figure rushing over to her. "Hey! What happened?" Tai looked over at Beck seeing her body still, her mouth open and yet no air went in or out. "Crap. She's not breathing."

Zed was interrupted from his approach to Zor by the commotion by Tai and Beck. He stared at Beck's still body and Tai struggles then back at Zor. Ignoring the previous sight, he carried on walking towards Zor. Determined to finally out an end to his crimes.

"Breathe damnit!" Tai shouted.

Rekindling Zed's attention he looked back to see Tai rolling Beck onto her front and attempting CPR to resuscitate her. Pumping her chest repeatedly he looked back and forth from her face and the placement of his hands not noticing any noticeable difference.

"Come on! Breathe already! I've had to deal with this ash same as you so if I'm still breathing you have to as well!" Tai placed his ear against Beck hoping to hear a heartbeat, feel her chest rise and fall, something. There was nothing.

"Please move aside."

Tai heard a voice behind him and looked to see Zed standing there, maintaining a calm disposition.

"Um sure…" Tai moved a little unsure of who this guy was, as he began inspecting Beck. "Can you help her?"

"Honestly… I'm not sure. I have an associate who could easily… but she isn't here." Zed thought back to Leben who was still missing. Surely, she had to have noticed what was going on here? Zed shook his head and focused his attention on Beck's body. "All I can say is that I will try. But know that Black magic is more prone to ending lives than saving them."

Zed closed his eyes and concentrated, placing his open palm on Beck's chest. While he did, further back Zor opened his eyes, wincing. His body ached all over and he groaned lifting his head up in front of him.

"Guuh~ That kid… damn he hits hard." Zor clenched his fist. "I was supposed to be powerful. I was meant to show Lady Gluttony and the Nanatsu no Taizai just how capable I was but instead I got beaten by some-" His eyes spotted Zed's attempt to save Beck, an action which managed to make him smile. "Huh? Well what do you know, guess I owe that girl a thanks." Zor's body slowly began flaking off and becoming ash that floated away to who knows where along the wind. "Still with that guy around… looks like I'll have to dust this city right now instead of waiting for the ash to thicken. That's gonna be a pain…" Zor's lips became ash and floated off, the last words he said going unheard as he vanished without a spec of him left.

Tai tightly gripped his sword, clenching his teeth so hard they looked like they could crush a diamond. "Damn it. I should have tried to do more. I should have tried to stop her going in."

"You care for this woman. Even though you have only just met her, don't you?" Zed asked as he hovered his hand above her chest, gently raising it up and down. He didn't need to see Tai to know his shocked reaction. "There is no reason for you to feel guilty, on my way here I heard your prayers. She wanted nothing else but to help others even if this was to happen. I imagine that's how you two met, her helping you. A rather noble goal, if not also incredible fool-hardy."

Tai looked down knowing what Zed said was true. Beck offered to split lunch with him, she offered him help when she found out he was homeless. Part of it still angered him that she pitied him, but he couldn't deny that it felt nice her caring about him when for so long everyone had turned a blind eye to him. Then Tai looked back at Zed perplexed.

"What do you mean you heard our prayers?" Tai asked.

"As you have witnessed, I use God Slayer magic which enchants me with divine properties. Similar to the enhanced earthly senses those famous Dragon Slayers have I have more… enlightened senses. Specifically, I can sense virtue and hear prayers." Zed explained "That's how I was able to find the black practioner or Zor I suppose he's called. Only a man like him would pray for absolute power and control over all those beneath him."

Zed opened his eyes and coated his open palm in black magic, gently gliding it over Beck's body. Once it was over her mouth, he let it rest there briefly before weightily lifting it up, pulling the ash from her body outside of her mouth. The stream trickled into Zed's palm where it was absorbed as though it was being sucked into a black hole. Zed carefully positioned his hand, making sure that he kept a steady control of the ash until the trail soon stopped making Zed pull his hand away and uncloak it.

A second later Beck gasped and began coughing and spluttering all over the place. Slowly regaining her bearings Beck blinked a few times and put a hand on her head as she leaned up to see Tai and Zed.

"Ugh what happened… and why do I feel so cold?" Beck asked herself, as she struggled to move.

"Take it easy. I've cleared your airways but you still need to catch your breath." Zed suggested.

Tai just smirked at the downed Beck. "Geez, you couldn't have picked another time to take a nap."

"Hey I wasn't napping! At least I think I wasn't. What was I doing again?" Slowly it all came back to Beck. "Oh yeah that cremation guy. He blew all that ash in my face and then I really struggled to breathe, well more than before anyway." She looked over at Zed. "And you're that God Slayer, you were so cool! What's your name anyway?"

"I'd rather not tell you. In fact, I'd prefer it if you never spoke of me to anyone?" Zed revealed.

"Huh? But why not?! You saved my life! People deserve to know what you did."

"People get in the way. People make my work harder. Case in point the fact that I still haven't secured the practioner because I had to come here and revive you. Now if you'll excuse me." Zed turned around and went to go after Zor when he froze. He stared at the spot Zor once lay only to discover he wasn't there. "What?!"

Tai and Beck looked in the direction Zed was looking with unsure looks.

"I don't get it? Where's the bad guy?" Beck asked.

Zed stayed deathly silent, slowly turning his head so that he could see Beck and Tai over his shoulder. "Gone."

So how was it? Good? Bad? Somewhere in the middle?

Regardless I hope that this first chapter has intrigued you readers enough to stick around for more. I know that most people want to read FanFiction just to see more of their favourite characters and settings so having a focus on OC's might not appeal to everyone. And that's fine but to me one of Fairy Tail's strengths was its creative freedom, which I hope to encapsulate in my story. Who knws maybe I'll inspire others to make similar stories but this early that's really pushing it.

Right now my other story 'Trainer to Huntsman' has seniority so I'm not sure when this story will next get updated but just now that until I say so, updates will come eventually.

So until then this is Kallerston signing out!