Chapter 5 - Encounter with the Devil

Fairy Tail: Paths of the Soul

Amber woke up to the warm sunlight on her face, finding it a bit more welcoming than she had the previous day. She had stayed over at Shelly's house again, and found she had slept much better now that she didn't have quite so much on her mind. After a long stretch, Amber leaped out of bed and thought about what she had to do that day. Jaina had suggested finding her own home in town now that she was a part of Blazing Soul, but feeling the hug of Shelly's loaned pajamas on her body made Amber rethink what she wanted to buy first.

In a hurry to get started with what would probably be a long day for her, Amber quickly changed into her street clothes, took Armeria by the hand, and proceeded to the lower level. Shelly was waiting in the kitchen again, in the middle of a long yawn as Amber entered the room. "Hey Amber." Amber yawned herself and waved as Shelly looked down at Armeria. "I like your familiar. She’s kind of cute."

Amber stopped abruptly as Armeria's pale cheeks turned a dull blue color. "Cute?" While she certainly valued Armeria as a companion, she had never thought to describe her appearance as cute. "You think so?"

"Yeah, she's like a talking teddy bear." Amber chuckled a little, lifting Armeria into the seat next to her. "So what did you want to do today?" Shelly asked, refocusing her attention on Amber. "We could go shopping first, there's a bookstore a few blocks away if you like reading." She thought for a moment, touching her finger to her lips. "Or maybe-."

"Clothes." Amber said abruptly, cutting Shelly off. "Just clothes, for today." Her stomach growled suddenly, and she blushed as Shelly stifled a laugh. "And, well... Maybe something to eat first."

"Alright." Shelly jumped to her feet, grabbing a bag that had been hanging off the back of her chair. "There's a café I like to go to sometimes, with Dad and my brother. We could stop their first." Taking Amber's hand, she began leading her towards the front door. "Come on, I'm getting hungry too."

"W-wait, I..." Amber stuttered, trying to get her balance after Shelly pulled her to her feet. "I don't have any money."

"That's ok, Jaina said she'd pay for it until you start taking jobs." Shelly explained while putting her shoes on. "She really likes you."

Amber wasn't sure what to say. She never thought anyone would go this far out of their way to help her, let alone a group of people. A warm feeling grew in her chest as she thought about it, as did a smile on her face as she looked back to the kitchen. "Armeria, let's go."

Sitting exactly where they had left her, Armeria had buried her face in her tiny hands. "She thinks I’m cute..." She mumbled to herself.

"Armeria?" Amber called again. "You coming?" Only a moment later, Armeria dissolved into a number of small formless pieces and flew across the house, reforming into a belt around Amber's waist. Though a little confused by her familiar's actions, Amber followed Shelly out the door without question. Wanting to get started with the day as soon as she could.

Walking through town that day seemed a lot more relaxing to Amber, no longer weighed down with the pressure of whether she would join the guild or not. It was a nice change, and she had even began recognising some parts of the city. Storefronts and intersections mostly, but she took pride in that fact all the same.

Shelly led the way, walking just slow enough to allow Amber the time to take in their surroundings. More and more people began filling the streets, each one attending to their own daily routine. Amber drew closer to Shelly as the crowd thickened, not wanting to become separated from her guide, and thought it best to start a conversation to kill time. "So, what kind of jobs do you do?"

"All kinds." Shelly said simply, touching a finger to her lips as she thought of examples. "Sometimes we have to go looking for stuff, sometimes we deliver things. It kind of depends on what the client wants."

For some reason Amber's memory flashed back to when she first met Axel and Zeke in Johdine, and the trouble she'd have been in had they not been there with her when fighting that monster. "Do you work with others?"

"If you wanted to, yeah." She answered proudly. "You can take harder jobs and split the reward, but I think it's more fun just to travel with other people." Shelly glanced up at the sky, apparently reliving a number of fond memories as they walked. "Dad and Jaina say it's safer too."

"Speaking of your dad; where's the rest of your family?" Amber asked curiously. "You mentioned that you have a brother, didn't you?"

"Dad's the guild master, so he has to go out of town a lot. And my brother's an S-Class mage, so he's always going out on jobs." Shelly's pace slowed slightly, and despite her smile she seemed saddened by something. "And, well... My Mom-."

A man sprinting through the crowd suddenly brushed past Shelly, causing her to stumble into Amber. Amber was quick enough to catch her, glaring at the man's back as he fled into the distance. "That was rude." She mumbled, helping Shelly back to her feet. "Are you ok Shelly?"

"Y-yeah. Sorry, I..." Shelly seemed to be trying to brush the incident off, that is until her hand fell at her hip and she began patting around her waist. "Wait, my bag's gone." Amber looked around the street, and the orange bag Shelly had brought with her was indeed missing. Shelly spun back in the direction the man who pushed her had headed, just in time to see him turn a corner with her bag in his hand. "He stole it! He stole my book bag!"

The people around them froze upon hearing Shelly's shouting, everyone franticly looking around to see what had happened. Ignoring everyone around them, Amber pulled Shelly along as she broke into a run. "Come on, after him!"

The two of them rounded the corner, spotting the perpetrator half way down the street. "Hey, you!" Shelly called. The thief vanished around another street corner when he saw them, and Amber sprinted after him leaving Shelly in the dust.

Shelly called for Amber to slow down, however Amber didn't seem to hear her; too focused on trying to repay all Shelly had done for her. Just as she rounded the corner, a wave of intense heat washed over her, followed by a streak of fire dancing through the crowd. People immediately fled for cover as the thief rolled across the ground, clutching at his now charred forearm. A shaggy albino man was all who remained once the street had emptied, a fireball dancing in the palm of his hand as he leered over the thief. Amber found herself frozen before him, taken in by his burning red eyes. Everything was still for a moment, then the thief rolled over and ran back down the street towards her.

The albino man's sneer turned into a grin, and the flames in his hand jumped after the thief. A bright light filled the street, and Amber felt someone yank her away by the arm. "Move Amber!" Both she and Shelly landed on the ground just around the corner of the nearest building, a cascade of flames raging over the place they had just been standing. Amber covered her ears for the roaring fire, slowly curling up as the flames intensified.

After a moment, the incredible heat faded and the two girls slowly rolled over to look at the scorched street behind them. The thief ley on the ground, one of his legs charred black and small embers burning all around him. Amber followed the trail of ash back to the albino man, who apparently was in the process of admiring his own work. "Ain't going to be running anymore, now are ya?"

Though she thought it best to keep hidden, Amber heard Shelly give a heavy sigh as she stepped out of cover. "Raven, what do you think you’re doing?"

The man stopped laughing momentarily as he glanced at Shelly. "Oh hey there, bosses kid." He bent down to pick up Shelly's bag, then tossed it in her direction after looking it over. "Thought this thing looked familiar. Guess it's yours, huh?"

"Y-yeah..." She caught it against her chest, holding it tightly as if protecting it from this Raven person. "That was careless, Raven." She said sheepishly. "You could have hurt somebody."

"Well, yeah. That was kind of the point." He said with a crooked grin, pointing down at the thief by his feet. "Besides, without me you'd never have seen your precious book bag again. You're welcome by the way."

Shelly continued to glare at him as Amber looked around for anyone who might have been hurt. Much to her surprise, other than the scorch marks in the road, there was little damage to speak of and nobody else had been injured. "Well, it's been fun, bosses kid. But I'll be seein' ya." Raven exclaimed, spinning on his heel and waving over his shoulder.

"W-wait a minute..." She called after him. "We have to wait for the police."

Raven glanced back over his shoulder at Shelly, never breaking his stride. "Well have fun with that, bosses kid." Shelly gave a long, tired sigh. "You're the victim, so you can make the report. I got better things to do."

Raven disappeared around another building at the end of the street and Amber picked now to remerge, as did a number of the citizens. "Who was that?"

Shelly didn't answer immediately, still staring down the road with a tired expression on her face. "Just... Don't worry about it. He's not around very much." Throwing her bag over her shoulder, Shelly turned back and said. "Sorry, I need to stay and tell the police what happened." Amber wasn't really paying attention, still thinking about what she had just witnessed, and only really heard Shelly as she bowed her head to make an apology. "I'm really sorry Amber. I'll meet you at that café, alright? It's called Harbors and it's just a few blocks away."

Amber was more than a little disheartened by the news, but decided it best not to argue. "Yeah, sure." A commotion echoed out over the street, followed by the sound of people approaching. Not wanting to get caught up in anything, Amber turned away to head back to where they came from. "I'll wait for you there."

Just as Amber rounded the corner, she heard Shelly call after her. "We'll go shopping right after, I promise!" Amber smiled and waved back at her, but remained disappointed that their plans for the day had been interrupted for the moment.

Finding their meeting place was easier than Amber had expected. Most of the streets where void of people thanks to the commotion Raven had caused, making it very easy to spot the café from a distance. Amber took a seat at one of their outdoor tables, waiting for Shelly to catch up with her. She didn't have any money, so she thought it best not to order anything yet, but began to become concerned as the minutes ticked bye and Shelly still hadn't shown up.

Just as Amber thought about getting up to go look for her, an elderly woman pulled out the chair across from her and said. "Your name is Amber, correct? Of Blazing Soul?" Amber nodded dumbly, caught off guard. "Do you mind?" She continued, gesturing to the other chair.

"N-no..." Amber was a little flustered, looking around quickly to see if Shelly had shown up yet. Still no luck, and the sound of chair leg's scraping along the ground called her attention back to the stranger. "Who are you?"

"My name is Payla Morsetty, I work at the Magic Council." She said with a warm smile. The name rung a bell, though Amber couldn't seem to place where she had heard it before. "I believe you may have already met my co-worker, Zephyr Odinshire. Have you not?"

"I..." Amber had to think for a moment. It was a familiar name, though there had been so many new names and faces over the past few days that she wasn’t entirely sure who Payla was referencing. "Think so?"

"Good, good. That saves us time then." Payla reached into her coat and produced a file with the Blazing Soul emblem on the cover. "I'll get right to the point, we at the council are concerned about your wellbeing amongst the people of Blazing Soul."

Amber blinked dumbly a few times, completely taken by surprise. "You, are?"

"Indeed, we are." Payla's warm smile slowly changed into a firm scowl as she opened the file and began flipping through the pages. "I'm going to come right out and say it, not all of them have a spotless record." She paused a moment, putting the file down to show Amber one page in particular. There was a picture of the man who had caught the purse snatcher a few blocks away, next to a large list of things that Amber couldn't make any sense of. "That man you encountered who... Let's say apprehended, that thief. His name is Raven Tyran. We have reason to believe he was, at one point, affiliated with Grimoire Heart of the Balam Alliance."

"Balam Alliance?" Amber repeated. "What's-?"

"There is more." Payla interrupted, taking the file again and flipping to a different page. "On top of sheltering a number of unsavory characters, that guild harbors a traitor from the Magic Council who stole Council documents and betrayed them to the guild master, Jaina Donwhel.' She laid the file down on the table again opened to a new page. "One, Isa Wondril."

Taking a moment to study the picture, Amber found that the woman somewhat resembled Jaina; sporting the same white hair and red eyes. She didn't look that threatening, though a thought came to mind as Amber looked the papers over. "Wait, Jaina's not the guild master. Shelly said her dad is."

"On paper, yes. Davin Vamiro is listed as the current master of Blazing Soul." Payla admitted, her expression softening for a moment. "But he succeeded Jaina under less than ordinary circumstances, and allows himself to be manipulated by her all too often."

"Oh..." Amber was at a loss for words. Even after everything they had done for her, hearing this scared her a little. If this was all true, what else had they not told her? Who else did she have to be careful about? Was she really safe around them? She wanted to dismiss these thoughts immediately; but after seeing what the man named Raven had done to the thief this morning, she just couldn't seem to manage it. "So... What do you want me to do?"

"I just want you to be careful." Payla said with a warm smile. "Ms. Wondril may act innocent to you because you are a newcomer, to gain your trust. But I implore you to exercise caution around her. If you suspect you are in danger, or that something isn’t quite how it should be, I want you to come to the Council in Lowindell straight away. Ask for me directly and I shall handle things from there." Just as Amber looked back down at the file, Payla swiftly pulled it from her hands and hid it inside her coat once again. "Now, I understand this may be a lot to take in, but you'll have to excuse me. I have a number of matters to attend to today." Abruptly standing up, Payla walked past Amber, gently rested a hand on her shoulder as she did so. "Good day young one. Be safe."

Amber nodded slowly, slumping back in her chair as Payla disappeared into the crowded street. She just couldn't believe what she had heard. They all seemed so nice, there was no way they could be hiding something like this from her. Then again, Shelly had obviously known Raven; and thinking back Amber had only met a handful of people in her short time there. It all seemed too good to be true when Jaina was showing her around, and it made her heart sink to thinking that it might have all been a front.

A knot formed in Amber's stomach again as she thought on this new information, however a light touch on her shoulder broke her train of thought. Already on edge from the new information, Amber jumped to her feet in surprise; knocking her chair over in the process. Spinning around quickly, she found Shelly standing just a few feet behind her, surprised herself by Amber's abrupt reaction. "S-sorry. I was calling you but you didn't answer." Amber took a few deep breaths to get her heart rate down, but Shelly soon picked up on her panicked expression. "Are you ok?"

"I'm fine." Amber said quickly. She hadn't considered it when Payla was there, but it now occurred to her that she didn't really know Shelly that well either. Was she in the dark too? Or did she know about this Isa person just like she knew about Raven? Thinking about it made her head hurt, but Amber remained suspicious. "I was just thinking, Is all."

Shelly looked around at the other people at the café, some of which were staring at them from the commotion. "I see." Amber got that feeling again, the one that told her Shelly didn’t believe her, but thought it best to keep her doubts to herself. After an uncomfortable moment of silence, Shelly glanced around again and smiled. "Well... The police came and took that purse snatcher away, so we can get back to shopping if you want." Quickly looking Amber over, Shelly noted that her current wardrobe looked a few sizes too big or her. "You said you wanted to get some new clothes, right?"

Amber shook her head "No. I-."

"Oh yeah, you wanted to get something to eat first." Shelly interrupted.

"I’m not hungry." Amber raised her voice, growing annoyed that Shelly wasn't listening. Shelly took a step backwards, surprised by Amber's sudden outburst, though Amber continued on before she had a chance to say anything. "And I don't want to go shopping anymore either."

"What?" Shelly's smile fell into a frown, seemingly more heartbroken over the news than Amber was. "Why?"

"I just changed my mind, alright?" Shelly's shoulders slumped down, but she just nodded her head instead of saying anything. A tight feeling grew in Amber's chest, and suddenly she found it hard to look Shelly in the eye. An uncomfortable silence fell over them again, even with the background noise of the other customers carrying on. Amber felt bad about cancelling their plans now, but she didn’t want to risk letting her guard down if she really was in danger.

As the two of them stood there, one of the waitresses made her way over to them. "Welcome to Harbors. Would the two of you like a table?" She asked politely. "We have a few empty ones inside if you like."

Shelly quickly looked between the waitress and Amber, not sure what to say. "Amber?"

"Sorry, I don't want anything." Despite trying her best to stick with what she had already said, Amber's stomach let off a louder than normal growl that betrayed her hunger. Shelly began to giggle, and Amber's face flushed red from embarrassment. "I said I'm not hungry!" She shouted, seemingly talking more to herself than the others.

"Alright, alright." Shelly took Amber's arm and led her outside, trying to avoid causing a scene. Once back out on the street, and away from the prying eyes of the café's other customers, Shelly asked. "So... What do you want to do?"

Amber tried to think of something that made sense, which at the same time wouldn't sound suspicious. "Let's go to the guild, ok? I want to take a job first." Amber spoke without really meaning to, but it seemed like the smartest call once she thought it though. It didn't matter if she stayed with Blazing Soul or not, she'd need money at some point. And with the situation being what it was, sooner might be better than later.

"Oh..." Shelly took a bit longer to respond, however her usual smile returned after a moment and she perked back up again. "Ok, sure."

Amber found it hard to believe how excepting Shelly was of her excuse, but didn't dwell on it too long as they set off once again. The two of them walked in silence for a few blocks, Payla's warnings weighing heavily on Amber's mind, until Shelly piped up. "So what sort of job do you think you'll want to do?" She glanced over her shoulder as she waited for an answer, however found Amber staring at the ground as she slowly trudged along behind her. "Amber?" Shelly spun around and began waving her hand in front of Amber's face. "You awake?"

"What?" Amber took a step back, apparently not paying attention. "What'd you say?"

Shelly became concerned, and stopped to look Amber over. "Are you sure everything's ok?" Amber crossed her arms over her chest as the tight feeling in her stomach intensified. Observing this, and a pained look on Amber's face, Shelly continued. "You can tell me if something's wrong you know."

Amber thought about it. Should she tell Shelly about the old woman from the council, or keep it to herself? If she told anyone from the guild, what would they do? Would they kick her out? Going to the council seemed safer, but that would mean being on her own again and she didn't want that either. Both options had their risks, but Amber decided to keep quiet about it. "I've just got a lot on my mind." Shelly continued to stare at her. "I'm fine, really."

She waited for Shelly to say ‘I see’ again, like she had every other time she had tried to lie to her. Much to Amber's surprise however, Shelly simply nodded. "Ok, long as you're sure." Shelly spun around again and set off down the road to the guild, waving for Amber to follow. "Come on. If you're lucky we can find an easy job to start off with."

Amber stood still for a moment, shocked that Shelly had let the matter go so easily. A small nudge in the flat of her back got her attention again, and she reached down to feel for the perpetrator. Her hand fell on Armeria, or at least the leathery back of her belt form around her waist. She found herself smiling at the gesture, then took off after Shelly again.

It didn't take very long to walk through town, but with everything that had happened in the morning it was almost noon by the time they arrived. Shelly had tried to keep a conversation going during their walk, though it mostly came back to books Shelly recommended. Amber didn't have anything to add, just that she hadn't done much reading for a very long time. Shelly brought up hobbies as well, though Amber didn't have much input on that either. Topics ran out just as the guild building came into view, and Amber found herself stopping at the gate once again.

Her thoughts jumped back to this morning, and the flames that Raven had sent shooting through the streets to catch the thief. Would he be here? Or that Isa person that Payla had warned her about? She didn't know what to do, but felt a light touch on her shoulder. Shelly stood behind her, nodding her head back towards the city again. "Last chance you know." She said with hopeful eyes. "We could still go shopping."

Amber smiled. "Sorry Shelly, I want to make some money first." Shelly sighed, a little disappointed, but nodded silently and followed her through the front gate.

Somehow Amber felt reassured. They'd all helped out a complete stranger expecting nothing in return; Payla must have been mistaken about them. A small smile grew on her face, and was just about to open the door to the main building when she heard Jaina's voice echo from within. "Come on Axel, she's a cute girl. Most men would be tempted to cop a feel on the way back home."

Amber froze in place, so fast that Shelly bumped into her. She stumbled back a few steps, looking up at the building with a sigh. "Uh-oh, someone's fighting again." Amber didn't really hear her though, as Payla's warnings had begun screaming out in her head. Her skin began to crawl, and she crossed her arms over her chest as her face turned bright red. "Amber?" Shelly asked puzzled. "What's wrong?" Amber couldn't speak; she knew exactly what they were talking about inside, but didn't have the nerve to explain it.

Because the cute girl Jaina mentioned, was her.

Next Chapter – Setting Out