A Wonderful day for a stroll...

Magnolia certainly is a beautiful place... Aven's thoughts wandered absently as he made his way along the water of a canal. The gentle waves reflected the sun off their surface, shining an ounce of extra light onto the white suit he wore, and further accenting the green ascot popping from between his lapels, one of which he adjusted ever so slightly. A light, rhythmic echo played off the surrounding buildings in time with his steps, the white metallic cane he carried in his left hand clacking on the beat of his right foot. As usual, a gentle smile tugged at the corners of his lips, the simple serenity of a leisurely stroll down a scenic route enough to content him.

As he meandered over the cobble, so did his mind, recalling stories he'd heard of the guild that used to inhabit the city. Tales of grandeur, mighty wizards that overcame unspeakable odds. Most were hearsay, of course, Sorcerer Weekly barely ever delving into details. In Aven's experience, the magazines tended to put their focus more upon the various beauties within the guild rather than their specific exploits. He took a moment to wonder where they'd disappeared to, they certainly had to be somewhere. He shrugged; it wasn't really his place to wonder. As much as he looked up to the wizards of Fairy Tail, he was sure they all had their reasons.

His path invariably led him to a park, at the center of which stood a large tree. It's branches extended quite far, probably high enough to get a good look at the city from above. He latched onto that stray thought, and made his way toward the park. At the center, he halted, taking a moment to admire the grace of the tree, considering that it'd probably stood there for decades. He tapped the ground beside him with his cane, and a deep purple magic circle appeared affixed to the ground, two feet across. Then, he tapped the ground in front of him twice, two more magic circles appearing: both that same two foot diameter, one silver, one bright yellow. In a small flash, the yellow circle shattered, and its silver companion glowed brightly. With that, he stepped forward onto the silver circle, causing a silver mist to disperse from the circle as it dissipated, then planted a foot on the tree. Then another, followed by a wooden thunk from his cane, and repeating as he gracefully walked up the tree as though gravity was no issue.

After reaching a middle branch, he stopped, not wanting to hurt the ancient tree by making a perch on less sturdy branches higher up. He hung onto the offshoot above him as he took in the view. Breathtaking! It was a blessing of his that out of the year he'd traveled, he could still find a sense of awe in exploration; or, perhaps that was simply the norm. He supposed he'd find out.

It seemed like ages since zecarayus had been in magnolia, and perhaps that was the case. He didn't know how much time had passed since he had awaken back in fiore from tetsukazu. Course he wasn't in magnolia to search for answers about that, he was content to leave that mystery alone for now. He was in magnolia to search for work, as he no longer had a guild for income, rooming, or supplies. Well that was his original intention anyways.

He was walking through the town that had changed, leaving him wandering through it. He had his old black t-shirt and dark blue jeans on, the age on them was clear as they looked worn. Old black sneakers carried zecarayus through as he had lost sight of his ghosts, and knowing them if he didn't find them, then trouble would come for him and them.

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The ghostricks were amazed by the new surroundings. Lantern, Jackfrost, and Mary crept along the hidden nooks and crannies out of habit as they were enjoying the new sights. They didn't have to hide around as no one really could see them easily, but taking the longer route led to more opportunities of mischief.  Causing minor mess ups and accidents on the way to the park, they went in a tree that happened to be across from the tree aven was in. There was a path in front of the tree that was covered in it's shade. After the ghostricks picked up a pattern of people walking by it, they began there fun.

A young couple had happened to walk by the tree, oblivious to all but themselves. Which was perfect for lantern to make his appearance. The ghost came down from the tree in the cover of the foliage with a terrible rattling and the glow from his eyes and mouth made for a shocking appearance to them. The smaller woman turn back and ran, dragging the man with her as he tried to make sense of what had spooked them. They had not even moved back a few feet before both started to slip and slide, which they did not stop until they were a few meters away from the tree. The woman was trying to catch her breath, naturally spooked while the man tried to comfort her and muttered curses about mages under his breath.

Jackfrost had been able to freeze the ground while the couple were surprised by lantern, which now in sunlight was clear there had been ice there as dark patches and melting frost could be seen. Mary had been watching the whole time to make sure no one else would had come, and if they did both ghosts out would retreat hidden in the tree. But no one else did, and all three were in the tree laughing at the misfortune they caused just now. Both jack and mary were ghost'd, and there laughs could not had been heard by anyone around. However lantern had forgot to change, and his laugh could had been heard if one ventured close enough to the tree, sounding a "kek-kek-kek-kek-kek-kek!"

Note: Info about ghost'd and the ghosts can be found in the spoiler of the sig.

Aven's wistful observation of Magnolia was interrupted by some commotion, and his eyes were drawn to a bit of mischief below, where a.... was that a Jack-o-lantern? It was cackling heinously at the couple that were taking off in the opposite direction, obviously spooked. Not that Aven could blame them, of course, as the prank was quite brilliantly executed. Nevertheless, it was obvious that these were summons of a wizard in the nearby area, and it was rude to bother civilians with one's magic. He'd have to speak to their wizard. He gracefully descended a few branches, coming to face the Jack-o-lantern abruptly. "Now, now, it isn't nice to harass the townsfolk. Where is your wizard, little ghost?" Hopefully, the little tike wasn't malicious, as Aven had never fought a ghost before; he imagined it was difficult.

Lantern was laughing at his work too much to notice the mage descend and confront him. As soon as aven made himself known, lantern stopped laughing, its glowing mouth dissipated to leave only the glowing eyes visible on its pitch black face staring back at him. Lantern stayed put for aven's question, but after he'd finished lantern gave off a "Kek!" before zooming into the tree straight down away from aven. After this would had happened, the sound of glass breaking would be heard at the bottom of the tree.

Mary was the first to notice someone descending, and pulled jackfrost away from lantern to a lower branch. When she saw the mage confront lantern, she was annoyed at how this man got the drop on them and how lantern forgot to hide itself. So much so that she quickly devised a plan to get revenge. She had condensed the mana she had and formed a hand mirror on the ground at the base of the tree and had jackfrost waiting on the side. Mary then created a breaking sound from the mirror to get aven's attention, a splintering crack could be seen on it.

If he landed on the ground to investigate it, she would surprise him by appearing on it as a wraith with glass shards flying out towards him, a angry wail, and her red eye glaring malovently at him. As much as she would want to hurt him, being so far from zecarayus, the shards of glass on impact would feel like a harsh wind blowing and harmless. But she would only be distracting him at that point. Because assuming that he would move away by touching the ground, jackfrost would had at that point frozen the ground under the mages feet and would cause aven to slip and possibly fall, or at least make his running away more fun to watch.

If aven moved away from the tree and did not buy the bait, mary would only grow more irritated and lead her companions to stalk aven while ghost'd, awaiting a opportunity to prank him.

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Zecarayus would had eventually pieced together that a path of unfortunate accidents would lead him towards his ghosts, and they did lead him to the opening of a park. After entering, he would had overheard a couple as they left, muttering about being scared from a tree they walked by. Zecarayus took this as a sign that they were here, and now was faced with the problem of which tree this happened if the ghosts were still here. So he began a brisk pace walking around in the park, sticking to paths and kept a look out for any sign of them while trying to appear normal, realistically he was only able to hold down the urge to break into a run.

Aven sighed. That ghost was terribly mischievous; the sound of breaking glass below was certainly a distraction for the Jack-o-lantern to get away, an action it probably reckoned it would succeed in. Hold on... there hadn't been any glass at the base of the tree, much less a hand mirror. He hadn't seen the Jack-o-lantern use any magic, so that meant.... there were more of them. He couldn't be sure what they planned with the mirror past a distraction, but he could deal with it if need be. For the moment, he needed to ensure he caught the lantern ghost.

In a small puff of purple dust, Aven disappeared from the branch he was on and appeared on the magic circle he'd left behind at the base of the tree, originally meant for getting down from the tree without a commotion. It always paid to be prepared. Ignoring the mirror, he reached up toward the lantern ghost he was now directly in front of with a grin, his cane planted firmly on the ground. "No need for running, I don't mean any harm, little ghost. I'm simply curious."

Lantern had his head poking out of the base of the tree and had not hid yet, which led to aven knowing where he was. Lantern looked at aven with a curious look at the gesture, then it grew distressed, its eyes looked worried and a mouth had appeared on the black face but was in a squiggly shape. He then flew away and disappearing into the air by ghost'd. Course he wasn't scared of aven, but of mary's rage, which had escalated due to both being ignored and lantern ruining the prank. Right after lantern fled and disappeared, mary flung herself as the cracked hand mirror with a horrible wail at aven's head aiming to hit him hard. Jackfrost still ghost'd had froze the ground under aven after he landed, but fled with lantern at mary's rage.

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Zecarayus had found himself walking around the edge of the park with no luck, and grew worried if he would had to wait for them to come back. However he heard a faint wail coming from the center of the park. Could that be? He thought to himself, then began to make his way toward the source fast walking.

Aven raised an eyebrow. So that's what the mirror was for. He certainly wasn't fast enough to dodge at point blank range, but blocking was an option. With an ample degree of finess, Aven twirled his cane and knocked the mirror aside, a few shards of glass bouncing off him, one leaving a small cut on his forehead. "That's a bit rude, don't you think? Let's be civil, even beyond the grave, shall we?"

Mary did not like how she was so effortlessly brushed aside. From where the hand mirror landed, a dark aura began to form around it. It then started to morph, the glass grew larger and the frame started to turn brown. It eventually morphed into a 3 foot dresser mirror, it floated in the air facing aven. Then a red eye formed in the middle glaring at him, then the silhouette of a woman could be seen. Power could be felt building up as the glass in the mirror started to crack. At this point mary would had charged aven, contended with pelting him with glass shards. But a voice stopped her from behind her.

"Mary!" zecarayus would had shouted at her. He had saw a commotion with a mirror and guessed right that it was the ghosts at work. It also helped that jackfrost and lantern fled behind since they knew he wasn't afraid to stand up to mary. Mary turned around to face zecarayus, blocking aven's view of him from his point while surprising zecarayus with how she looked and how she spat "WHAT".

"Didn't I told the three of you to not cause trouble while I was here? And why are you so mad?"
"The man behind me ruined our good time here in the park! What's worse lantern here had to screw up the prank by being visible!"
"When you shouldn't had been causing trouble in the first place? I told you there is a time and place for it and now wasn't the time! Now please hide yourself."
"What? Not until I-"
"Mary, would count want this?"

Mary would had stopped there, remembering the champion. And with a grumble would had dissipated to all those watching except zecarayus, who could still see her while ghost'd. "Now, maybe you should go back since your so mad, your scaring the others ya know?"He said still talking to her, except now it looked like he was talking to the air. He sighed and then looked forward to see the man with the cane, realizing that he might had to deal with his ghosts. "I'm sorry about that, I recently made a contract with them and I still have to get to know them more. Did they hurt anyone in the park badly? Are you ok actually?" He asked walking closer to aven, noticing the small cut on his forehead.

So this was their wizard? It was fortuitous he showed up when he had, Aven wasn't sure about the prospect of combating that woman ghost, especially when it had control over physical objects. Had she fire more glass shards, there wouldn't have been much he could do past another inertia circle. Come to think of it, that would have been useful for the mirror... food for thought, he supposed. There were always improvements to made, the stinging on his forehead a reminder that he would always be a student of life. He glanced around, ensuring there weren't any other victims of the prank, relieved to see none. He chuckled, dipping into a bow. "I believe it was just that couple and I at their expense. Don't worry about this, though, it's only a scratch, nothing that won't heal. My name is Aven Alveron's, it's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Contractor. Or, perhaps a necromancer? I've seen multiple applications of both." A spark of interest played in his eyes, one that beckoned to an inquisitive mind. No doubt, he was interested in learning the intricacies behind every magic circle, as with adequate practice, he could replicate it.

Zecarayus was relieved that the ghostricks did no lasting harm to anyone around. The mage, who introduced himself as Aven, appeared to be a mage himself judging by what zecarayus was feeling from the man's aura. A thought of paranoia entered his head from the familiar look in aven's eyes, but zecarayus brushed it aside as he knew he could be more paranoid then friendly.

"Well, I am a spiritualist in the least, the names zecarayus." he responded with a friendly tone and a small bow. Zecarayus then followed it up with a question, realizing this was a good opportunity for it, "If you don't mind helping me out, I'm a wandering mage looking for the job board here. Did they move it from the abandoned fairy tail guild building or is it still being used there?"

'Spiritualist'? He was probably dodging the question. Not a problem, in honestly, as summoning spirits and other contractual magics weren't something Aven would employ in the norm, his time could be better spent learning magics that could be used independently of their archetype's intricacies. He took a moment to ponder Zecarayus's question: to be frank, he wasn't sure! The Fairy Tail guild hall was at the edge of town, a bit too far for him to see from his vantage point on the tree. He'd heard tell that they left a while back, due to some nonsense with a "Coming Storm", whatever that was. By all rights, they could have returned in the time since that rumor floated by him, which would be a boon indeed. If he could, Aven would love to join Fairy Tail, a guild he'd always idolized. "I'm not sure, this is my first time in Magnolia. I was planning on heading that's way soon, if you'd like to accompany me?"

Zecarayus was surprised that aven was new in magnolia. The confidence he gave off made it felt like he lived in magnolia for a while. The surprise in his face was quickly replaced with a smile and a chuckle, "Just my luck, here I am lost in magnolia and was able to find you who happened to be on your way to where I wanted to be. But of course, though you will have to lead the way aven since I don't know where it is." So the two would had begun to make there way out of the park. Zecarayus curious about his companion decided to pass the time with conversation. "If you don't mind me asking, what did you come to magnolia for? Looking for jobs like me or decided to check out the abandoned guild hall?"

Aven strolled along just as carefree as before, his usual smile tugging away at his face once more. He glanced over at his newfound acquaintance as he placed his inquiry. "You're correct on both accounts, actually. Though I've spent over twelve years on the developement of my Circle magic, I've barely done even a stitch of actual wizarding, confined to my studies as I was. Now that it's complete, I'm looking for a guild to join, to expand my array of knowledge, make a name for myself, and explore the world!" His cane ticks on the ground below as a look of slight embarrassment came over Aven's face. "As for visiting Magnolia town, it's a bit of a personal errand. You see, I've looked up to the wizards of Fairy Tail for as long as I am remember, they're the reason I chose the life of a wizard over being a Scribe, like my mother and father. I wanted to visit their old guild hall to witness the place so many different legends had walked, so many people I idolized as a child." A wistful expression overtook him as he gazed up at the clouds, the tapping of his footsteps as rhythmic as ever. "Perhaps it's a long shot, but one day, I'd like to join the Fairy Tail guild, contribute to the institution which has inspired me and so many others like me."

Aven snapped back to reality in an instant, turning foreword with a small chuckle, eyes focused on the present once more. "Sounds a bit childish, doesn't it?"

Zecarayus listened to aven's answer, his enthusiasm was infectious as zecarayus couldn't stop a smile to form as he listened. He was surprised by his mention of how long he practiced and studied on his magic, though he remembered that it took him a good 11 years to grasp the basics of necromancy when he knew it and it was the only reason why he was able to pick up on his current magic so fast. He mentioned he wanted to join a guild, and then brought up fairy tail. Zecarayus's smile faded and replaced with a neutral but inquisitive expression. His worries however soon lessened as he was after the old guild for what they were before what happened in magnolia that caused them all to flee. Though new worry sprouted for aven, if he kept telling others this then they might assume him as a illegal mage, and the last thing zecarayus wanted was someone being hurt for ignorance.

"Not really chilidish. Unless being a optimist and idealist suddenly became childish." he answered with a small smile and a chuckle. However his face gave way to a more serious expression, his eyes filled with caution and worry. "But haven't you heard about the poisoning of magnolia? It was the reason why the guild fled and became classified as a dark guild, or at least was the big event to confirm that."

Aven's brow furrowed in confusion. "The poisoning of Magnolia? I havent' heard a single peep of it! You're saying that Fairy Tail was deemed a Dark guild, and they were responsible for a catastrophe in Magnolia? But..." The rhythmic tapping of his shoes and cane halted, his eyes dropping to process the information. Could Zecarayus be lying? He didn't seem the type, nor could Aven find a reason for the young man to lie about such a thing. "When I set out, I heard tell that Fairy Tail was an independent guild. Was that information dated? Fairy Tail has always stood as a beacon of what a magical guild should be. You're positive that such a thing occurred?"

It was zecarayus's turn for his brow to furrow in confusion. "To my knowledge fairy tail has never been independent, unless they somehow redeemed themselves?" He muttered to himself the last bit, his face turned away in thought. But he turned back to aven, both of them standing in the middle of the sidewalk trying to make sense of each other. "I am sure the poisoning happened as I was there for it, not to mention it was the reason why fairy tail left magnolia for somewhere in the wilds. All though if there is talk about a independent fairy tail, then maybe they have been forgiven for it?" He mused at the thought and looked in the direction they were walking in. "I guess we can find the truth if we continued forward right? Still how did you not know of the poisoning? I would think it would be news across everyone's lips. Then again that was some time ago, maybe a year?" He muttered the last bit to himself again, but turned back to face aven for a answer.