Chapter 25 - Invitation to Party

Fairy Tail: Paths of the Soul

A few days after Amber’s visit with Jaina, the rains had finally subsided and the skies cleared. Axel and Zeke headed out the second the sun cut through the clouds, desperate for some much-needed time out of the house. And having nothing else to do on her own, Amber simply followed along after them.

It’d been a pretty boring few days for them both; Amber occupied herself with a book that Shelly had loaned her, finding the brisk cold of her room a strange comfort to the muggy humidity the storm brought with it, and after that had taken to scanning through TV programs with Zeke. Axel meanwhile would run out whenever there was a break in the rain to see if he could stop the windows from leaking, with varying, if ultimately unsuccessful, degrees of effectiveness each time. For the most part though, they remained pretty distant from each other, and Amber began to regret the silence now that they were out of the house. "Hey, Axel? Are you still mad at me?"

He glanced over his shoulder, apparently lost in his thoughts. "What?"

"You know... Because I kicked you." She said quickly. Sure, Axel was easy to talk to, but she still wanted to tread lightly.

Despite her worries though, Axel shrugged his shoulders. "Naw, I'm over it." He smiled back at her, which slowly turned into a small grin as he began rubbing his side. "You have got one hell of a kick though."

Amber giggled, and Zeke swooped down to land on her shoulder. "We were just trying to follow your rules." He said, ignorant as to how much of a sting his words carried.

She huffed and brushed him away, but took it on the chin and chose not to complain. "Yeah, I know..." It was still reassuring to know that they weren't mad at her, which made the rest of the walk to the guild a lot more relaxing.

Soon the three of them had pushed through the guild's outer gate and entered the building, only to find it surprisingly empty. Amber assumed there would be a lot more people present after the storm they had all just weathered, eager to get back to work and such. Axel scanned the upper balcony for literally anyone, and after an unsuccessful search he called. "Dad? Are you here?"

At first there was nothing, but then the door to the kitchen slowly slid open and Jon stepped out to join them. "That I am." He took a quick look around, also taken aback by the guild's relative emptiness, then finally drew his gaze back to the trio. "So, Amber, how are you enjoying our fair costal weather?"

"It was kind of cold at first, but it got used to it." She admitted, trying not to sound like she was complaining. "I didn't think it'd rain as long as it did though..."

"Yeah, ocean storms are vexing like that." He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "High pressure that comes with it is murder on my old bones..."

Amber wasn't really sure how to follow that, but Zeke's stomach growling was the perfect way for her to let the subject change. "I'm hungry..." He moaned, landing on a nearby table. "Do you have anything to eat, Dad?"

As if he had just remembered something, Jon snapped his fingers. "Oh yes, quite a bit in fact. There's a bit of a crowd out in the arena right now, so I figured I'd get ahead of the rush before the Master closes the place down." Jon said, rocking back on his heels. "If you didn't mind waiting a little, you could eat with them."

"Awesome." Axel exclaimed, looking towards the back door. "C'mon guys, let's check it out."

"You mean the arena again?" Amber sunk back, remembering her first day at the guild. Sure, Master Davin had promised to get rid of the alarm that had plagued her, but that didn't seem to come at any comfort. "I don't know..."

"Shelly's back there too. And she may be in need of a little company, if you catch my meaning." Jon added, sensing Amber's apprehension. "Don't worry, I'll make sure to save you three something if you run late."

Hearing that made Amber change her tune, albeit only a little. Her stomach growled, but she figured she might as well say hi to the others and see what all the commotion was about first. Waving goodbye at the back door, the trio stepped out back and into the daylight for the mere second it took to enter the arena.

The inside was dimly lit, and it became apparent they had walked in during the midst of a fight in progress. Inside a barely visible box in the center of the room, Leo dove through the air at Kat in a flash of light, who gracefully cartwheeled out of the way. "Come on, you can do better than that." She called in a teasing voice.

Leo skidded to a halt and threw out an arm, unleashing a volley of small light blasts from his palm. "Strato Burst!"

Kat disappeared in a cloud of smoke kicked up by Leo's attack, only to pop up a moment later completely unscathed. "Nope, sorry. Still not enough."

The crowd laughed as Leo bared his teeth in frustration, and Amber took a second to look around. Axel and Zeke had moved on to join the mess of people lining the arena, and she could see Davin watching the match intently from the other side of the room. She spotted a familiar head of purple hair in the corner of her eye as she glanced down one of the walls, and looked back to find Shelly sitting on one of the benches that lined the wall. She was apparently bored out of her mind, as she had her sketchbook out on her lap but just sat their twirling her pencil between her fingers.

Amber stepped away from the commotion to join her, barely able to hear herself think over the frequent clashes just a few feet away. "Hi." She waved slightly, as she almost had to shout to hear herself.

Shelly looked up instantly, ecstatic about having someone to talk to. "Hey Amber!" She folded her sketchbook closed and shuffled over, inviting Amber to sit down. "Are you feeling better!?"

"I'm fine." Her attention was drawn back to the fight after a particularly loud clash, and Amber found herself looking around the arena again. She knew almost everyone, or recognised their faces at least, but after looking back at Shelly she noticed small dark bags under her eyes. "How have you been?"

"What!?" She asked, straining to hear over the noise in the background.

"How have-!?" Amber cut herself off, looking back at the shouting crowd as Leo flew high into the air. Deciding it was pointless to try and hold a conversation here, Amber looked at Shelly and nodded to the door and the pair of them left a moment later. Even with the door still open, it was much quieter outside, allowing Amber to repeat herself. "So... What where you doing? I thought you didn't like the arena?"

"Dad said it was important for me to support Leo whenever he wants to fight. But I don't really get why..." Shelly said with a sigh. "What about you? With all the noise in there; it'd the last place I'd expect you to go."

Amber reached up to her ears, only now realising exactly how loud the cheering actually was. Despite that, she was fine. "Oh, yeah it's just sudden stuff that gets me. Like the whistle on the train."

"Well, that's good, I guess." It was apparent that Shelly didn't really know what to say to that.

Amber looked back inside, watching as Leo yet again was to slow to catch Kat. It was a little strange to think that they had described her as one of the strongest mages in the guild, given the giant grin spread across her face as she danced around Leo like a plaything. Quickly losing interest in the fight, Amber decided to change the subject. "So have you talked to anyone else?" She asked looking back into the arena.

Shelly just shook her head again. "Not really. Leo wanted to fight someone as soon as we got here, so I haven't had the chance yet." She took a moment to stow her sketchbook back in her bag, and in that time remembered something else. "Oh, Carra came over to visit yesterday though. We played video games until almost one in the morning."

Upon hearing that, Amber spotted Carra hunched down next to Davin with Chico on her lap. It was a little strange to see someone as timid as her wrapped up in watching a fight, but Amber didn't pay it any mind. "I see."

"You should come next time too." Shelly suggested. "She kind of likes you now."

"Now?" Amber repeated, not exactly sure how to take that.

Shelly giggled at her reaction, but didn't say much else and led Amber back into the main building by the hand. Jon was still in hall when they arrived, arranging tables and making them presentable. "My, that was fast." He chuckled, wiping his hands clean with his apron before pulling out a pair of chairs for them. "So, how's our young Leo fairing back there?"

"Same as always..." Shelly huffed, putting her elbows on the table and resting her hands under her chin. "He starts off ok, gets annoyed after a little while, then can't aim to save his life." Amber looked between the pair of them, unsure what she could add to the conversation, when Shelly sighed heavily. "Anyways, I'm kind of hungry. Do you have anything ready to eat right now?"

"Yes, of course." He said, sensing it best to just drop the conversation all together. With a quick few steps, he had crossed back to the kitchen again. "Be back in just a moment."

A silence returned after Jon left, with Shelly looking deep in thought and Amber not knowing what to say. That problem solved itself though, when people began to appear through the back door once again. Maybe one in every three or so people actually stayed, the rest continuing out the door to attend to their own business. Axel and Zeke joined up with them not long after, as did Rift and Geno. Though they were having their own conversation when they entered, Shelly cut in when they sat down. "So? How'd he do?"

"He'll live." Geno quipped. "Bruised his pride pretty bad, but he'll recover."

As if on que, Leo trudged in with a consoling Davin resting his massive hands on his shoulders. "Don't worry about it, son. You did great."

Kat came strolling in next, still not a mark on her, with her hands resting behind her head. "Yeah, you really had me going for a good while there."

"Yeah right, you were playing around the entire time." He grumbled, lurching out of his father's hands. "I wish you'd take me seriously once and a while."

"I never take anything seriously. You know that." She said, twirling around and dropping down in the seat next to Shelly. "Wait, do you mean as a mage, or as a man? Because if you mean as a man, you'll have to take me to dinner first."

Leo's face flared red, and just before he said something the front door opened and the booming voice of Terra echoed through the hall. "Greeting's companions!" She marched in dragging another man behind him, long blond hair under a wide sunhat, but he didn't seem to mind. Terra roughly dropped both her hands on Leo's shoulders, making him cringe under their weight. "That was a marvellous effort, companion Leo."

"Might consider improvin' your aim though." The man who followed her mumbled.

"Oh, shush." Terra flicked down the rim of his hat, crossing her arms in annoyance. "He is young. He can learn."

Sensing Leo growing more embarrassed with each word Terra uttered, Davin glanced at the clock hanging above the kitchen door and put on a small smile. "Hey Waylind, didn't you guys have a job you needed to get too?"

After looking at the clock himself, and glancing back at Leo, he seemed to get the hint. "Yeah, your right." He tugged on the back of Terra's shirt, enticing her to follow after him as he turned for the door. "C'mon babe, time to get movin'."

Though she was slower to catch on then Waylind, Terra eventually nodded. She leapt to catch up with him, then grabbed his wrist and tucked herself under his arm. Pumping her fist into the air, she cried. "We're off!"

A few people giggled slightly after the two of them left, Amber included. Though Terra was annoying at times, she had a certain charm about her. Slowly, attention turned back to Leo, currently moping around the back of the guild near the job board. Trying to help, Kat said. "We're still buds, right Leo?"

Just as she said that, another woman walked through the front door, having overheard pretty much everything. "You shouldn't tease him, Kat." She said, resting her hands on her hips.

"I wasn't teasing..." Kat moaned, slumping down on the table to hide her smile. "Not at first, at least."

"Sure, whatever..." The woman sighed, crossing her arms in annoyance. She took a quick look around the table, stopping briefly on Amber, but then seemed to have a thought and pulled an envelope from her back pocket. "Oh yeah, I got our tickets too."

"Awesome." Kat quickly snatched the papers from her hands, then threw her arm around the woman's waist. "You're the best, Fiona."

"You guys goin' on a trip?" Geno asked, watching Fiona try to pull away with a bit of an amused grin.

After opening the envelope and inspecting the tickets, Kat nodded excitedly. "Yep. The Omnison family's annual shindig is kicking off this week. And me and my sis here where invited down to play chaperone for all the nice old rich people." She said, tugging at Fiona's belt.

"Really?" Amber blurted. She could see the resemblance; jet black hair, slightly tanned skin, a gorgeous hourglass figure. Fiona was dressed in a much less reserved clothing, a purple tube top and red scarf was the only real difference, but it was obvious she put a little more care into her appearance than Kat did. It really didn't take much to imagine her and Kat living under the same roof. "Wow."

Though Amber was referring to the fact that the two of them where related, Kat had apparently thought she meant something else. "Yep, done it every year since I joined the guild." She flicked at the tickets, then handed one back to Fiona and put the other one in her pocket. "So, I know you guys just got back from a job, but do you want to come with us again?"

Shelly shook her head. "No thanks."

The speed at which she answered sounded a little suspicious, causing a bit of a silence before Rift spoke up. "Well, I'm game. Just stand around and watch a bunch of rich people talk about stuff. It's a far cry from the Silunna Job; sounds like an easy paycheck to me."

"Me too!" Zeke yelled.

Geno nodded too, looking more like he was just going along with the flow than actually being interested, and a big goofy grin grew on Kat's face. "Come on Shelly, your friend Lir will be there."

Shelly slumped her shoulders, looking slightly embarrassed. "We're not really friends..."

Her smile disappeared, and Kat turned her head to the side. "I thought you two got along great?" She nudged Shelly with her elbow, trying to encourage her somewhat. "She looked like she had a blast the last time you came with us."

"She turned me into a hamster..." Shelly grumbled, pushing Kat's arm away.

Undeterred, Kat threw her arm around Shelly's shoulders and pulled her in against her chest. "And you where adorable!" Shelly began to squirm in the woman's grasp, becoming more and more annoyed with her, but Kat ignored her and looked at Axel and Amber. "C'mon, you guys must be sick of siting around the house after the last few days, right?"

The two of them exchanged a glance, both of them getting the distinct impression that they were getting suckered into something. Amber shrugged, but Kat was right; she'd gotten so sick of being inside that any excuse to go out and do something was welcome. Axel seemed to share that sentiment. That and Zeke already said he wanted to go, so his answer seemed obvious. "Sure, I guess it sounds like fun." A grimace fell across his face and he quickly backpedaled, ether remembering something or having second thoughts after seeing Shelly glare at him. "Wait, I can't. I've got some people coming over to do some work on the house later this week."

"That shouldn't be a problem." Jon announced, returning with a pair of large treys of food for them all. "I could let them in for you, if you like." Shelly shifted her glair to him, but he appeared unfazed and continued on. "I've still got a spare key, so just tell me what time they're arriving and I can cover for you."

After quickly glancing back at Shelly, who just rolled her eyes, Axel nodded. "Ok, thanks."

Shelly squirmed free and crossed her arms in annoyance, a little disheartened that her team seemed like they were considering going on without her. Kat giggled however, then spun in her chair to spy Davin and Leo talking by the back wall. "How about you two? With all the rich and famous people hanging around, it might be good to make an appearance, guild master."

"Not interested." Leo grumbled, still a little sore over the match the two of them had just had.

Davin patted him on the back, trying to be as comforting as he could, but had a look on his face that told them that he was giving the notion some serious consideration. "Well, maybe later." He glanced at Leo, still glaring at the back wall, then mouthed the words. "Going to try and cheer him up a little."

Kat nodded, then placed an encouraging hand on Shelly's shoulder. "C'mon girl. It's a party, in the capital! Think of all the stuff we could do after hours."

Shelly slowly inhaled, then gave a long deep sigh. "Ok, fine..."

Kat's grin returned for but a moment, as when she glanced at the clock she jumped to her feet and said. "Oh crap. I lost track of time..." She looked back down at the others, all of them just starting into their food. "Eat fast. Because the train lives in an hour."

Everyone, even Fiona, glanced at her in disbelief before they all screamed. "What?!"

"Sorry!" Kat said, already running for the door. "Pack fast!"

With that, she was gone. All that could be heard was Davin trying to fight back a chuckle in the back corner. Fiona ran her hands through her hair, groaning in annoyance. "God, sis... Every time." She said before running out the door after her.

"Well shit..." Geno moaned, placing a half-eaten bowl of rice back in the table. "Guess we gotta run."

"Yeah..." Shelly moaned, slowly looking at Amber. It was apparent that she still didn't want to go, but Amber figured she didn't want to be left out either. Especially now that Leo seemed like he'd be in a mood for the rest of the day. "I've got a bad feeling about this..."

"Come on, don't be like that." Rift encouraged, finishing the rest of his food in one mouthful and flashing his jagged teeth at them all. "Trust me, you'll be bored out of your mind. Nothing ever happens at these things."

Next Chapter – Into the Capital