A/N: And here I am with Chapter 5 for your enjoyment!

Enjoy!

Chapter 5: For the Good of the Guild

August 23rd, X847

It was a dark night. Clouds filled the sky as the waxing moon shone eerily through, the sounds of the waves beating against the cliffside far below the guildhall as Aliah stood atop the wall, waiting in the darkness. She looked up to the sky as the moon peeked out from behind its cloudy cover. The pale white light shining down on Bittercress as happier memories filled Aliah's mind, back from the days from before the blood red moon was a sign of imminent death and destruction. She sighed, wondering if she would ever see the full moon again in its natural state, but her thoughts soon turned to those who had never before seen the beauty of the full moon, like Rachel, and had only ever known the ominous Blood Moon that would soon be upon them again.

"Master Aliah," she heard Austin call out from behind her, two prisoners tied together with rope and cuffs while Alessandro followed up from the rear.

"Ah! Buonsera, Maestro Aliah!" the eccentric man said in greeting as Aliah turned to face the four men, "My bene amico and I have returned from our mission to apprehend these men and destroy the rest!"

"D-destroy!?" one of the prisoners gasped, "You didn't say anything about destroying our guild!"

"I did not need to, mio amico. But I do wonder where you thought my bene Guardian friend went while I asked you my many domande? He did not go for an idle walk, capire?" Alessandro responded a look of abject horror crossing the faces of the captive dark mages.

"The rest were killed. As you requested," Austin stated coldly, "And they knew just as much as you feared they did."

"I see… Good work, Austin. I can always count on you when I need the hard decisions carried out," Aliah replied, a hardened look coming over her face, as she steeled herself in her mind for what she was about to do, "So… You know about him? You know about my mother's plan? About what she did right under the State's nose?" she asked staring coldly towards the dark mages.

"We don't have to tell you anything!" one of the dark mages spat out harshly.

"Yeah! We don't owe dogs of the State like you anything! If anything, we should go and tell the State what you did so they'll come down on all of you!" the second one shouted.

"They know most of the details, Master," Austin stated, "Though some of the more obscure, damning facts remain hidden, even from Alan and Knights Harrowing."

"I suppose it's impressive what all mother managed to do in secret. How much of this does Knights Harrowing actually know? How much have they shared?" Aliah asked, looking to Austin and Alessandro.

"Our bene amicos are safe for now," Alessandro replied, letting out a sigh, "There is no big rischio for now and the details are in our report for you to view in vita privata."

"So all the danger would pass for now if these two were to…" Aliah muttered, trembling a small bit.

"If you wish, I can do it," Austin said, placing a hand on the woman's shoulder.

"No… I need to take responsibility as Guild Master and protect the guild, even if that means soaking my hands in blood," she declined while shrugging Austin's hand off her shoulder, "So… when the State's liaisons arrive in a few days… They jumped to their deaths rather than risk being taken prisoner, got it?" Aliah instructed coldly, stepping towards the dark mages, the two of them trying to scramble away before Aliah reached out and grabbed one of them by the arm, pulling him towards the cliff and throwing him over, dragging the second one towards the cliff via the rope that tied them together, though he managed to get caught on the wall and hold his friend up.

"Please! Don't do this! Don't kill us!" he pleaded loudly, "You're free mages! We're on the same side! Don't kill us please!"

"I'm sorry… But it's for the good of the guild… And I'll do anything to keep them safe," Aliah whispered softly, bending down to grab the man by the ankles and throw him over the wall, sending the two men falling to their deaths, Aliah steeling herself to watch them go all the way down and impact against the jagged cliff wall before falling into the ocean.

"Maestro," Alessandro said softly, looking to his guild master even as he saw tears form in her eyes, "Will you be all right, my caro amico?"

"Yes," Aliah answered as she quickly turned around to walk back inside, the two older men looking towards her with concern, "It's just raining is all."

The two men stood there a while longer, watching Aliah retreat back inside the guildhall.

"It is such a heavy burden our poor Maestro carries upon her shoulders, is it not?" Alessandro eventually said, breaking the silence between the two men.

"Indeed. I worry sometimes that she allows her mother to control her too much, especially considering that Alesia has been dead for two years now," Austin admitted, "You were closer to them. Was their relationship always that way?"

"In a manner of speaking, mio amico," Alessandro said, recounting his memories of them, "There always seemed to be some degree of control, but it never seemed anything out of the ordinary."

"Perhaps there's something we don't see then that only Aliah and perhaps Mordekai know," Austin reasoned.

"I would wager that it stems from something to do with Aliah's father, but that is a matter we have no business involving ourselves in, va bene?"

"Agreed, though I never knew the man," Austin huffed.

"Nor did I," Alessandro concurred, "But it is late in the night and morning has yet to come. So let us riposo for the night," the eccentric Seeker suggested, Austin giving a grunt in response before the two went back into the guildhall for the night.

. : + : .

It was an overcast morning as three mages drove through the countryside of western Fiore, the open top, magic vehicle they were in allowing their hair to flow in the wind.

"I though magic vehicles had a thing that plugged into your arm?" Rachel asked loudly over the sound of the wind and the engine.

"That's the old model," the woman driving answered back, whose name Rachel knew to be Cressidia after Kai had introduced them the night before, "They managed to make lachrima powered models a few years back thanks to all of the recent military advancements, so no more SE-plugs to drain our magic energy unless we get run out of fuel," Cressidia explained.

"I've never seen one before now!" Rachel happily exclaimed.

"You must be from the middle of nowhere then," the third girl in the vehicle huffed, who Rachel knew to be Danae, "They were everywhere back where I'm from!"

"I'm from a small mining town on the north side of Mt. Hakobe," Rachel admitted, "It's called Margritta Town.

"You're a long way from home then," Cressidia stated, "What made you come all the way out to the western coast to join a guild?"

"All the stories about the guild! All of the heroic tales of Lucent Knights banding together and saving the day, beating back the Blood Moon and protecting the people!" Rachel answered cheerfully, bouncing up to the front seat next to Cressidia.

"I don't know how much of that we do these days, unfortunately," Cressidia admitted, "We've been beat down hard in the last couple of years."

"C'mon! We still beat up the bad guys and save the day!" Danae interjected, "Don't crush the kid's dreams so quickly, jeez."

"And we're going to go save people right now, aren't we?" Rachel questioned, Cressidia letting out a small laugh.

"I guess we are, aren't we? Still, there's no question that we used to be able to do so much more before the split and Master Alesia's death," Cressidia said in a somber tone, "I only knew her and got to experience the whole guild for a few months, but things were much busier back then."

"Yeah! Back then we had the full set of Norwood Twins! The Asi and so many more cool mages running around!" Danae burst, "Though they kinda up and left with Alan and took a lot of our higher ranked mages with them. Even us D-Classes are in short supply," Danae admitted.

"Are things really that bad for the guild?" Rachel questioned.

"Well, yeah, to be honest," Cressida responded, "The Blood Moon is the biggest problem and it kind of caused the rest of them though. So maybe, if we can stop it things will go back to normal."

"Kind of wishful thinking there, Cress," Danae sighed.

"Oh, come on. We have to have faith. Without that, what else do we have?"

"Eh. I guess you're right. But I'd feel better if we back that up with a lot of magic power!" Danae laughed.

"So how much longer until we get to Mallow Town?" Rachel asked.

"Well, it's a bit out of the way. Which explains how bandits have been able to get to like they have, so perhaps a couple of hours at most. Depends on how many stops we make really," Cressidia explained, "Though lets go over how the fight's going to go while we're on the road. Basically, since I'm B-Class I'll be doing the heavy lifting as our frontline fighter. Rachel, I want you to back me up. Do what you can, defend yourself if you get attacked."

"I can do that!" Rachel chirped, a bit nervous now that she realized she was about to step into her first battle.

"Danae, you'll be crowd control. Harass the bandits and do what damage you can and try to take out anyone that gets past us."

"No problem, Cress. I'll pick off all the stragglers, just watch!"

"All right. I'll come up with proper positioning and strategy once we get there if we have the time. I'd prefer to hit them hard before they reach us if we can," Cressidia stated, "I don't expect a difficult fight, but bandits can be tricky and unpredictable, so stay on your guard. I want us all to come back in picture perfect health!"

"Right!" the other two girls said in unison as the trio continued heading to their destination.

. : + : .

"Thanks so much for helping me out here, Kiyoshi!" a happy, bubbly woman called out as a man hammered at a wall, reinforcing it with sheets of metal, "I've brought you and the others some lunch!"

"Ah, Carly. Hello," Kiyoshi greeted in response as he watched the pink haired girl head towards him with a basket of simple sandwiches in it, "It's much appreciated," he said before wiping the sweat off his brow and reaching out to take a sandwich.

"So how's the wall going?" Carly asked as she walked around her silver-haired companion to further inspect the metal covered, wooden wall.

"Slower than I'd like, quicker than I'd feared," Kiyoshi answered, "Even with the extra help it's still taking too long, but if we rush it, even a Shambler will be able to rip it open and waltz on in."

"Well, how about I help you all speed this up then?" Carly suggested.

"Oh? Is your magic finally ready to go?" Kiyoshi asked eagerly.

"Yep! The Super S-Class Curator is ready to go! With my help, you'll have all these walls ready and raring to take some punches!" Carly boasted, striking a proud pose as she did so, though she quickly turned and walked away from Kiyoshi, "But first, lunch break!" she chirped happily as she moved from worker to worker, handing out sandwiches, leaving Kiyoshi sighing at her antics.

"After all that build up even," he sighed, knowing that it would at least be another half an hour before the eccentric S-Class was ready to help him and the others, "I suppose it can't be helped though, so I better get back to work," he said before wolfing down the sandwich and picking his hammer back up before going back to pounding away at the metal to secure it in place. He continued his work this way for nearly another hour before he saw Carly again, the man internally sighing when she came back around to him.

"Yo!" she greeted happily, acting as if nothing had really been going on.

"Erm… Carly," Kiyoshi said in return, trying not to outwardly sigh in front of her.

"Yep. What is it?" the S-Class responded happily.

"I don't mean to be rude, and I apologize if I come off as such, but are you going to… well… help any?" Kiyoshi asked as politely as he could, given the situation. Though Carly began mock laughing in return soon after.

"Fufufu… Your patience has been awarded my friend! Now I am truly ready to aid you and empower all of you with the powers of my virtues!" Carly boasted loudly in a very showy manner, drawing all sorts of odd looks towards her, "Now! Virtue Empowerment: Patience! Increase the sturdiness of my allies! Help them to endure their painful task!" she announced, holding out her hand as a pink magic circle appeared in front of her, showering Kiyoshi and all of the workers in a pink light, each and every one of them feeling a substantial increase in their strength and stamina.

"Now! With that, I'm off back into town! Have fun out here with the wall, Kiyoshi!" Carly said happily with a wave before running off.

"Say what you will about her personality, but her enchantments are the best around," Kiyoshi huffed quietly to himself before going back to work, his progress much quicker than before.

. : + : .

"Shane!" Aliah shouted into the small crystal ball in front of her, "I can't hear you! Try and clear it up some!"

"I-zzshhht-ing-zzssshhht. Too many-zzzssshhhtt. Ida ran o-zzzzsssshhhhtttt. Branna in-zssssshhhhhtt."

"Shane!" Aliah yelled as Shane's fuzzy image disappeared from the crystal ball, "Dammit!" she cursed, slamming her fist into the table.

"If their magic communicator is acting up like that, it can only mean one thing is near," Mordekai stated, everyone in the room around him knowing exactly what he meant.

"Demon Beasts," Aliah said lowly.

"Morstineas to be precise," an ash-blonde haired woman stated, "I would assume Shades as well. Possibly something even worse," she continued.

"We need to send a second team in, Salem," Aliah said, looking to the woman.

"I'm inclined to agree. Shane and Branna will not be capable of completing this task alone. Especially if Ida is still recklessly charging forward. She'll need to be reigned in after this, Kane," Salem said lowly, looking off towards a tall, spiky green haired man on the other side of the table.

"Don't look at me," Kane huffed, crossing his arms as he returned Salem's cold stare, "Ida's never taken a single order I've given her. The only person she remotely listens to is Aliah."

"It'll have to wait until after the Blood Moon," Aliah sighed, "Though I don't know what you expect me to do. She only respected my mother, not me."

"Regardless of this issue regarding Ida's recklessness," Mordekai interjected, looking at each of them in the eyes as a signal for them to drop the issue, "We must decide on our course of action. We are sending a new team of mages, but who will we send? We have precious few mages capable of this task and we need our best close at hand for the oncoming Blood Moon."

"The Guild Coordinator's right. None of us can go and the S-Class are a no go either. Besides, my S-Class is already out on business," Kane added in agreement.

"I would suggest Titus go," Salem suggested, "Have him form a team of B-Class Mages capable of fighting all types of Demon Beasts."

"I think Titus is the best choice as well," Aliah sighed, "We have plenty of high ranking Guardians to pick up the slack, so we can afford to spare him right now.

"We're in agreement then," Mordekai announced, "Good. Then I shall go and inform him of his new mission," Mordekai stated, standing up from the table he was sitting at in the guild's meeting room and exciting out into the second floor hallway, the tall man briskly walking down it and to the stairs before entering the main room, quickly looking through it and at each of the mages in it. Not seeing his son, Mordekai headed for the training yard outside, walking out a side door and toward the yard. Seeing his son diligently training there, he called out for him.

"Titus! A situation has a come to our attention," he stated as he neared Titus and the two men near him, Klein and Lev.

"A situation, father?" Titus asked inquisitively.

"Yes. A Seeker team has landed themselves in a spot of trouble out in Celosia Forest. Demon Beasts are about, and their target lies in the middle of them," Mordekai explained.

"Whoa, wait. Demon Beasts?" Lev interrupted, "How many are we talking about for there to be a problem?"

"We're not certain on their numbers," Mordekai admitted.

"Sounds like a real troublesome situation you've got there, Mordekai," Klein stated casually, "But why come and tell Titus about it?"

"He has been chosen by guild leadership to lead a team into the forest, rendezvous with the Seekers and retrieve their target," the Guild Coordinator answered.

"I see. And you're certain I'm the most qualified for this?" Titus asked.

"No. But you were the one we chose. If not for the Blood Moon being so close, this would have gone to Austin since he arrived back at the guild last night, but it is too close for us to spare him, so the task has fallen to you," Mordekai explained.

"I understand, father. I accept your mission," Titus answered in a serious tone.

"Good. You are required to form a team composed of yourself and three B-Class Mages of your choice. But be careful that you plan to be ready to combat all types of Demon Beasts," Mordekai warned, "This is an S-Rank Mission and your lives will be on the line."

"Of course, father. I'll be sure to come back with everyone alive and well," Titus responded, standing straight.

"Good. The Seekers Shane and Branna will know more when you find them, or when they find you more likely. Once you find them, you will be joining their search to find and rescue Hunter Ida Ludolf. You are to leave as soon as your preparations are complete in no more than an hour. Time is of the essence," Mordekai instructed, staring his son in the face before nodding and turning to walk away.

"I won't let you down, father! I won't let Aliah down either!" Titus called out after his father, though he soon found himself being twisted around to by Lev.

"You gotta let me in on this! You need a Hunter and I'm B-Class!" Lev pleaded, practically demanding it.

"Calm down a moment, Lev, I need to think," Titus sighed, shrugging Lev's hands off his shoulders, "Besides, S-Rank missions are no joke. You can't just participate in one because you want to."

"Look! I know I'm not as good a swordsman as you, but I'm the only B-Class Hunter at the guild right now!" Lev interjected, still up in Titus' face.

"Well, what do you think, Klein? Is he ready? You're the A-Class Hunter after all," Titus asked, looking to the older man for advice.

"Well, in normal situations I'd say hold off on it. But this isn't a normal situation. So might as well make it a trial by fire," Klein suggested, shrugging his shoulders.

"All right Lev. You can come with me," Titus relented, Lev letting out a loud 'yes' in celebration.

"You won't regret this man! I'll go get ready right now!" Lev said excitedly before running off towards the guildhall.

"I'm still worried about bringing him along," Titus muttered, watching the younger man run into the guildhall.

"Look, Titus," Klein began before standing up and walking over to the blond man, "I know he's no Celene. Hell, she'd wipe the floor with him and maybe the ceiling too with how aggressive she is in a fight. But she left. She chose her side of the fight and that just happened to be Knights Harrowing's side. So you've got to trust that Lev can hold his own. He's a strong swordsman in his own right even if he's not on your level yet, but he'll get there."

"I know. It's been about two years now, but I still can't shake the unease of going into a fight without someone that's always been my equal in a fight," Titus admitted, "I was always Paladin Titus and she was Dark Knight Celene, two sides of the same coin."

"Are you worried that one day you'll have to fight her?" Klein asked.

"I am. And I don't think I could win either. Not because she's stronger… But because I don't think I could bring myself to fight her as if I planned to kill her."

"We're all going through something similar, kid. So don't worry about needing to lean on one of our shoulders from time to time, all right?" Klein said, looking at Titus in the face while he patted him on the shoulder, stopping once Titus nodded in response, "Good. Not get going. You've got a mission to plan and teammates to recruit and guild mates to save!"

"Of course," Titus said, turning to leave, though he stopped after taking a few steps before looking back at older man, "Thanks, Klein."

"Anytime, kid."

A/N: And there it is! Chapter 5! That first scene got kinda dark, but then again, that's just a taste of what's to come. But hey! We got some characters introduced, even if they were brief intros. But two of them were Guild Leaders!

Credits:

Cressidia Nightingale – WhitewolfLune

Carly Milton – tobodobo1996

Kiyoshi Blackthorn – LexGem

Salem Ashbark – spicy guy

Kane Strix – Death Obelisk

Also, I still have an opening for a male Hunter! Same restrictions as what I put in the last chapter and are on my profile. Contact me if you're interested in making him!

Reviews

Meteorthunder3 – Glad you liked what you saw of Shane. Just a tiny role in this chapter, but he'll be back soon. Hope you enjoyed it.

MyDearWatson – Yep, the Seekers can still put up a good fight. A good deal of them are more suited for smaller fights or even for taking a support role though. And of course the Morstineas will be back! They got a special mention this chapter even cause I knew how much you loved them. And Lev will be Lev. Let's hope he doesn't cause any trouble on this upcoming S-Rank Mission though!

LexGem – Yeah, being eaten by rabbits wouldn't be too good of a way to go, though apparently the alternative for that guy was getting tossed off a cliff… soooooo. Tough luck for him really. Glad you like how I'm doing with Branna so far, but yeah, her and Shane are very much the type to bicker with each other, even though they have really good chemistry in a fight. But Branna's fear of bugs is what inspired me to actually make a giant bug as a Demon Beast. Yep. Take Over Magic. That's all it is. I'm definitely not hiding secret details about it and Ida and those lovely side effects. Don't disturb the man behind the curtain! Yeah, Kai's actually really nice. It's just that she uses curses as adjectives so you kinda gotta get past that bit of her personality. Though if you dare to so much as put a scratch on the GIZMO… well, let's just say there are worse fates than dying. Hope you enjoyed the small bit of Kiyoshi!

Piece of Sheet – The cursing's actually kind of lacking in the Hunters right now. I'd say a very large percentage of the cursing in the guild is done by Kai and Shane alone really. Though as I said last chapter, creative cursing is a struggle for me to write as I don't really curse at all. So bear with me please. And yeah, I try to encourage more creative magics over the bland and boring ones that we've all seen a thousand times, that or give old ones new twists to make them fresh and new again. But the Demon Beasts are probably one of my favorite things from a creative standpoint as they really give me tons of freedom to do whatever I want. So expect to see a good deal more of them and new ones.

Mary Allen – Glad you're enjoying the Demon Beasts so much. But yeah, the GIZMO is an incredibly useful device for the guild. But it also gives me the perfect excuse to regularly mix up the teams, though you should expect some mages try to stick together regardless. Glad you enjoyed my portrayal of Cienne last chapter, poor Mya got to be her victim though. And I'm sure you'll see a few more of those doors opening up this chapter with new names and things for you all to ponder over.

Cheshire Neko-chama – Glad you enjoyed the chapter, hope you enjoyed this one as well.

WarMachine375 – Well, I went over the whole review in a PM so I don't have to write an essay here in response. But for the benefit of everyone else, here are some key points I made presented in a silly manner. Question everything! Who's actually right!? Fiore Military stronk! X829 not a good year for anybody! Lucent Knights is in a bad and tricky position! Blood Moon terrifying! Fear the Dark! Something wicked this way comes! Rebellion is crafty! Shades of gray everywhere! And Aliah just murdered two defenseless guys in cold blood this chapter, oh my god! Even Lucent Knights has gray morality! Are they really the "good guys"!? But anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well.

Anyways, this A/N is donezo. See you all next time.

Your host,

Dreadburner94.