A Guild of Lovely Maidens and Lovely Hearts

Dark Pasts and Bright Futures
Erin Nakano, the guild master of the Lovely Maiden Guild walked into the guild hall after coming back from a guild masters' conference and was immediately greeted with a warm and loving “Welcome Back!” from her loving guild family. She smiled at all of the happy faces who were patiently awaiting her safe return to the guild.

“I'm back everyone. I hope everyone was on their best behavior while I was away?” She asked in a motherly tone while looking at each and every face and failing to hide a grin.

“Of course we were auntie.” said a grinning Saki.

“Yeah, best behavior!” Ayumi repeated.

“Well, maybe not all of us,” said Shinju. “I heard that Sarah destroyed a house on her last mission.” she said with her best poker face on.

Erin looked at Shinju, who was now ruffling an annoyed Sarah's hair who was telling her to stop. Erin knew that Shinju was lying, Sarah was a good girl and had never destroyed anything in her life. The mischievous red haired gunner, Shinju Albereo was her full name, but long discarded her last name and preferred to just go by Shinju. She loved teasing and picking on the shy Sarah. Erin was just about to scold Shinju about teasing her younger guild mate when a quick flash from a memory appeared in Erin's mind and disappeared just as fast as it appeared. The memory was one she remembered well. It was of a young girl with red hair and red eyes, holding a gun and glaring at a dead corpse in a alleyway. Erin was walking by when she noticed the scene. The girl turned around and looked at her.

“Oh,” She said to herself. Stopping dead in her tracks. “I remember the face she made back then. She had so many emotions in her eyes, I'll never forget that look on her face for as long as I live.” Erin watched the girls of the guild laughing at a joke Sarah bravely made about Shinju and laughed even harder when Shinju blushed red and started chasing her around the guild hall. “So much hate and anguish, fear and betrayal, and so much sadness.” She said quietly, her voice barely a whisper. Erin then looked at Shinju again and saw her wild and playful smile remembering her frown from the memory. She looked at her eyes, noting that the negative emotions she saw in her eyes that day have long vanished. The only thing she saw in them were guilt.

Erin leaned on a nearby pillar and watch her "daughters" talking and laughing. Some at inside jokes and others at each others facial expressions, in which Erin didn't get. She shrugged it off and continued looking at the girls. “Each and every one of us has a past that we want to forget, huh?” She said nonchalantly. “Each and every one of us has also gotten stronger because of the friends we have now.” She said to herself. Saying that, Erin started remembering how she met each of the members.

She looked at Akane, who was laughing at Shinju and Sarah. “You used to be nothing but a spoiled little brat who thought little of other people and their feelings.” She said to herself. “Now look at you, you've made precious friends that you treat as your equals.” She glanced at Emiko and the two sisters Akemi and Hotaru beside Akane. “You three too, Emiko, Akemi, and Hotaru, you all came from a abusive family and look how strong and brave you three have become. Nothing but smiles” She looked at each of the guild members and named their past hardship. Hitomi, kidnapped from her village and tortured. Fumiko was laughing so hard that she was holding her stomach. She suffered greatly from terrible experiments that sought to enhance a persons' magical energy. Sasha, who was sitting at the end of the bar smiling at Fumiko was one of the researchers in this horrid experiment, who regrets ever taking part. Caroline, who killed her abusive lover and Katherine who tended the bar, had loved her lover very much, but lost him because of a mistake caused by her. Crystal, who sat at the bar and able drank as much as yours truly, slept with people for money and Sakura, who was literally rolling on the floor laughing, was consistently raped by her step-father, with a mother who didn't care. Tsukiko, who was snickering, had a abusive, alcoholic of a mother and my niece, Saki, who was still grinning, had lost her mother and my sister in childbirth. Her father blamed Saki and tried to kill her. Momoiro and Ayumi, together were dancing, who lost their entire villages to bandit raids, with Ayumi losing her beloved brother because he was protecting her. Ren, joined in with Ayumi and Momoiro, was outcasted and bullied in her hometown and the beautiful Chloe, who started singing a beautiful duet along with Yuzuki, had suffered from depression and used to cut herself. Naomi, who was talking with Caroline, was sold as a slave and Setsuko who was paying no mind to the others and was focusing on her desert, had escaped slave life and lived on the streets. Sayuri, who was giggling, was molested at age 6 and Tsubaki, who was grinning at the pair, had accidentally killed a man. Mika and Miki, were grinning at each other, are the sisters whose parents abandoned them as babies and Aoi, was sitting beside Setsuko eating, who would steal and pickpocket to get by. Miyuki, who was talking to Katherine and Sarah were both orphaned at young ages and Yuzuki lived in an alleyway since she was 8. “All of my girls are pretty amazing.” Erin said with eyes closed, deep in thought.

Erin however snapped out of her trance when Katherine called her over to the bar. Erin sat down for the usual and Katherine handed her a cup filled with her favorite alcoholic drink. Sake. “Welcome back, Milady.” Katherine chimed warmly. Already knowing the routine of the guild master. Whenever she sits at the bar, she always asks for her alcohol. It's become like second nature to her. Erin just nodded her head before taking a swig of her alcohol. “The guild sure is lively.” Katherine continued. “I think that every member is here except for Amaya.” Katherine said, expression turning sad. “I wonder if she hates us. She's never here in the guild hall and only comes when receiving a new mission.” Erin just sighed at the mention of her foster daughter's name.

“I don't know what's wrong with Amaya, Katherine. She chooses to be alone for some reason.” Erin thought back to one of the worst times in her life. When she was in the hospital after a accident that damaged a few of her internal organs and was told that she wouldn't be able to conceive. Erin had always wanted children and this took a heavy toll on her. She soon went into a short depression afterwards. Erin prayed every night that a miracle would happen. A miracle that somehow a child will be brought into her life. “Now that I think about it, I didn't specify how the child should be brought into my life.” Erin said while chuckling. “I still remember when I first found Amaya, it was about a week after the bad news at the hospital. I found the child on the verge of death too.” Erin says aloud, but only loud enough for Katherine to hear. “She was a miserable looking little thing. That girl had lost so much, and I was surprised that she was still sane after she told me everything she's been through. But I was so glad, that my prayers were answered. I thanked the heavens from the bottom of my heart.”

Erin closed her eyes and fell silent. Katherine listening quietly while cleaning the glass cups. Erin sighed. “I decided to care for her, without hesitation.” She opened her eyes. Her face resting on her arm and her drink resting on the counter. “I grew so attached to her only after a few days of her being with me. I fed her, gave her clothing, and my love.” She then chuckled. “I remember the looks she used to give me.” A young, wary Amaya's face popped into her mind. “I don't think she trusted me, but it was understandable with everything she's been through. I was a complete stranger to her, no matter what I saw her as.” Erin paused and thought to herself. She probably didn't trust any adults, she did used to be a slave after all. Erin sighed and then got up from the bar stool remembering the paperwork left on her desk before leaving for the conference. She thanked Katherine for the drink and excused herself to her guild master quarters.

Erin's quarters were pretty much like a office. It was a simple room with a desk and chair and a stack of paperwork in the corner of the desk. Erin sat at her desk and started going through the paperwork on her desk that was addressed from the Magic Council. Erin groaned out loud clearly showing her frustration. She hated getting letters from the Magic Council, mainly because most of them were just complaints about property damages. Her good mood now ruined because it was obvious that the fresh stack of papers in her “Magic Council pile” were obviously recent and that her little 'angels' (more like devils) had just lied to her. "Best behavior my ass." She said frustrated. "Now I see what they were laughing at. Hmph!" Erin sighed, thinking that maybe she should consider retirement. “I love em', but these girls will be the death of me!” She yelled. Quickly skimming through the one in her hand a particular name jumped out at her. “Kohaku” Come to think of it, she didn't see Kohaku in the guild hall earlier. For some reason she ended up thinking about her hardship as well. The first time Kohaku's terrifying 'headaches' started.

Flashback (5 months earlier)

“Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!” Kohaku's bloodcurdling scream echoed throughout the entire guild hall, especially in the master's quarters.

''Erin, looked up from the paperwork she was filing out, got up immediately, and quickly ran to the source of the scream. She didn't have to run far because the source came from the guild hall. When she got there she saw Kohaku, holding her hands on both sides of her head and screaming in pain. Ayumi was crying and Katherine was holding and trying to calm down the screaming Kohaku. The other guild members were in a panic, no one knew what was wrong and hated that they couldn't help their friend. Everyone was scared and worried.''

“What's going on here?!” Erin asked Chloe, who was the nearest guild member to her, fear and confusion plastered on her face.

''“I don't know Milady,” She stated, tears brimming her eyes. “We were all just talking and laughing a minute ago and then all of a sudden, Kohaku started to complain of a headache, then she grabbed her head and started screaming.''

Erin immediately ran to Kohaku and placed a hand on her head getting ready to use a healing spell on her, but was immediately repelled and flown backwards into the guild bar the second she touched her.

“Milady!” shouted Katherine and the others.

''“I'm alright.” Erin said while holding up her hand to inspect it because she couldn't even feel it. She and the other guild members gasped when they saw her hand covered in blood. Everyone quickly looked at Kohaku to see if she was the one bleeding, but Erin realized that it wasn't Kohaku's blood, it was hers.''

''“Master, what's going on. Your bleeding!” shouted a crying Ayumi.''

''“Don't worry sweetie, I'm fine.” She said, trying not to scare the young girl, but that was most certainly a lie. Erin tried moving her hand, but a unimaginable pain hit it with just a twitch of her finger. She assumed that every bone in her hand was broken, it was also bent in a odd way. So she quickly hid her hand so the rest of the members didn't see it. Everyone was staring at her with total shock on their faces. ''

''“Stop looking at me, I'm fine. Take Kohaku to the infirmary! Hurry!” she said quickly to get the attention off of her and back to the screaming Kohaku, but it was quiet. Everyone glanced at Kohaku and saw that she had stopped screaming and had returned to normal, she was breathing heavily. Everyone quickly ran to her side and started caring for her immediately.''

''After about 5 minutes, Kohaku smiled warmly. “I'm fine everyone, don't worry about me. Why are you all so panicked?” She then passed out. Kohaku was taken to the hospital and Erin got treated for her hand. The doctors couldn't find anything wrong with Kohaku. Everyone was at a loss for words when they finally saw Erin's hand, it looked so bizarre. Her hand was bent in a way as if every single one of her fingers were pulled back all the way. Words couldn't describe the incomprehensible pain of getting her fingers pulled back to how they were originally.''

''When Kohaku finally woke up, Erin asked her, “What the hell happened back at the guild hall?” She then described what happened and showed her bandaged hand. “When I touched your head to try and heal you, this happened.”''

''Kohaku stared at Erin's hand in complete shock. “Milady I'm so sorry that happened to you,” she said sadly, “but don't worry about me, these headaches are normal, I've gotten used to them.” What mainly shocked everyone was that she acted like this wasn't serious.''

Present Day

Erin sat in her office thinking quietly to herself. Her hand had of course, long healed and Kohaku went on as if nothing happened. Not too long after, the 'headaches' happened again at the guild hall and just like last time, Kohaku would just shrug it off with a smile and claim to be okay.

''I made sure to have her on constant watch by her guild mates and team members. She said she's gotten used to them, but it still bothers me. She thought to herself. The force that broke every bone in my right hand is what bothers me. Anything that can break MY hand, is pretty strong.''

Erin didn't dare to try touching Kohaku's head the second time. Instead, she just let it pass, but this second time it happened, Erin could feel a malicious energy coming from Kohaku, one she didn't notice before. This feeling made her sick to her stomach. Erin then realized that it's magic energy. She came to a realization that a dark and evil spell has been cast upon Kohaku. Ever since she realized that, she has been looking into it ever since, but that was 5 months ago and still no luck. She sighed.

There was a knock at the door.

“Come in.” She said.

Emiko walked through the door holding a tall stack of papers. “From the Magic Council.” she said quietly.

Erin sighed, “Retirement doesn't seem so bad right now.” Which definitely earned a confused look from Emiko.