Storyteller and Celestial [Private: Speed Demon Zack]

Ayato wished to stay in the guild hall with Valin for a while after a random investigation in the Spooky Forest. He gradually recovered from the fear placed upon his soul, while the clothes he once submitted torn were returned just as new. The forest had some sudden conditions that had ultimately torn up another outfit Ayato once wore, and damaged his sword, as well. He gave his torn set of clothes to some mages, who quickly returned it after some fixing. Afterwards, Ayato decided to visit his dormitory for the first time to put these fixed clothes on, considering he was just in very light gear at the moment, having to carry his book everywhere. There was not much in the dorm, though Ayato did not mind. He had a log house not too far away. He changed into his usual attire, then exited with his book slid into his jacket. He was still stressed that he went on a mission like that, though was no longer scared. On the contrary, he was mad about the Magic Council simply wanting him to investigate the forest solely for a project they were looking into.

He went back into the lounge to sit upon a chair with a bottle of water in his hand. Valin wanted him to stay here for a bit, especially since she was getting a lot of attention from other mages and visitors. Nobody had seen her before, and she seemed to appreciate their comments. Ayato could only laugh, and sit back while the two were here together. However, shortly after Valin lost the attention, she ran home, and left Ayato hanging. Thankfully she knew where to go. "What to do?" Ayato asked himself. "That dang dragon left me be to just sit and do nothing..."

In the lounge area doing what could only be described as lounging was a man known as Zack Rose. He was one of the most powerful mages in the guild and famed throughout the land as a wizard saint. He'd slain dragons, fought giant monsters and unleashed an unbelieavably powerful entity upon the world. Fortunately, that hadn't risen as of yet, but the magic council was searching with all its magical apparatus to try and find him. Ayeseru had seen many fall to the creature's might so Zack was doing his best to form bonds with the guild and power them up as much as possible. However, today he was lounging. Yet where was he lounging? He wasn't in any of the chairs. He wasn't on the floor or even on one of the beams like he used to do a lot. No, instead he was laying directly on the roof with a pillow beneath his head. What was odd was that gravity seemed to be having no effect on said pillow, his hair or his clothing. It was almost as if the ceiling was the floor to him and that was exactly how it was. For Zack had the ability to alter gravity's effects on himself and items he was touching.

Ayato desperately wished for some company inside the guild hall, though it seemed he would not get any at all. He looked at the one job board in this hall, and saw that it was completely empty. No requests were coming in at the moment, so everyone was probably on break. Ayato pouted, stood up and stretched. He did not want to waste any time anymore. Therefore, just as Ayato was about to head home, Valin came to his attention again. However, during their second encounter, Valin came back to face him with more curiosity. Her tail was pointed somewhere, yet it was positioned high. Whenever Valin pointed her tail, it always indicated she was pointing somewhere. "What's wrong, Valin?" Ayato asked. He looked back, and his jaw immediately dropped. There was literally somebody on the ceiling! And it wasn't just somebody that was on the ceiling, but someone Ayato had encountered once before, and during a time of havoc. He grinned. "I always wanted to thank you for helping me fight against that dragon a while ago." Ayato remarked, "It's nice to see you again, though what the hell are you doing on the ceiling?"

Zack opened an eye and looked at the person who had addressed him. He was surprised he had been addressed at all. Few seemed to notice him on the ceiling even though when he was asleep his magic power was still greater than most. The person who had addressed him was a man named Seitenshi who was being held up by a blue serpentine dragon. He yawned and dropped off the ceiling quickly flipping round to face the man hovering there as if he was sitting on the floor cross legged. "Hey there buddy. Surprised you recognised me...I look quite different from when we dealt with Ladon. How you been?" he said with a grin and then tilted his head considering the final point. "Ah yeah...the ceiling again...bad habit I guess. When you can change gravity to suit your needs at will...you kind forget about it."

He looked at the dragon for a moment. A blue serpentine creature. He hadn't face such a dragon in combat. He'd faced plenty of dragons though. "Whose your friend anyway?" Zack said and then gestured with his hand and a small green orb flew over to his shoulder. Suddenly the green glow faded revealing a tiny armored fairy with a spear. "This is Devon, my partner."

"Indeed you do!" Ayato commented, "I wonder what could have triggered that." Though this could have sounded sarcastic, Ayato was being serious. He also did not want to admit it, but Zack's new appearance looked a bit like himself. It was ironic, actually. Ayeseru promised to be a brother of Ayato's from this point onwards, yet Zack's appearance looked more fitting for that title. Albeit, it wasn't like Ayato was going to abandon Ayeseru because of what he saw during this time. Zack seemed just as kind as he was during the fight with Ladon, though this time, the two could actually converse for a while, if they wanted, with no gigantic dragon to interrupt. All there was currently was a serpentine dragon to accompany Ayato, though her kind did not count, in Ayato's opinion.

"I've been doing well." Ayato replied, "I've been doing a few jobs for Fiore lately; some frightening and others easy. I even passed an exam for Blue Pegasus recently." Ayato then looked over to Valin, who he was about to address before Zack beat him to it. "This is Valin: a female serpentine dragon I found in the Serene Cliffs. She seemed very attached to me, as if I were her owner, so I sent a few notes to the authorities, and was granted the right to adopt her." Ayato patted Valin on the head while he was introducing her. She always liked getting attention, so this meeting seemed nice for both of them. Ayato appreciated this sudden company, so he offered some time to Zack, in return.

"Manipulating gravity seems cool, but how would you like to travel around town with me instead?" Ayato offered, "I'm in need of something big to eat, along with some services to repair my sword." Speaking of weapons, it was neat to see a companion who was very-well capable of holding one. He examined the fairy for a moment before Zack introduced him. "Nice to meet you, Devon." Ayato remarked, "Oh, I forgot to ask. How have you two been?" It was rude to answer such a curious question as the one Zack asked without asking the same thing, afterwards. Since Zack was demonstrating his skills, it was only right that Ayato demonstrated his own. He utilized his book to release his sword, which then ignited a tiny white flame atop the sharp tip of its blade. "My magic has been unknown to me for a long time, though it seems at this point it specializes in white flames alongside sword magic." Ayato explained, "Though I cannot really compare it with yourself. You are able to chill on the ceiling, after all- something very rare."

So he had adopted a dragon. That was a pretty rare thing. Dragons themselves were rare. Having one as a pet even more so. "I've been good. Managed to fix my memory issues and discover a few truths. Always good." he said and then raised an eyebrow as he considered the man's question. He wanted to go into town and get his sword fixed. "Food sounds good, but if you wait till we get back i've got a few bits in my room...should be able to fix up that sword for ya. " Zack thought about the sword for a moment. He had a sword that was very similar. Identical in fact and it too had fire properties. He had reforged it with scales, fangs and other items from a massive dragon he had defeated. He was pretty sure he had some spare bits that would work very well for fixing Seitenshi's sword. In fact, he might even be able to make it better.

"Hey Devon...mind heading back to the room and getting the forge heated? Should be some gold dragon dust left...I think." The fairy nodded dropping to the ground and rapidly grew to the size of 5ft 6 before walking off to begin preparing Zack' forge. "Thanks Dev." Zack winked at Seitenshi. "I have a lot of rare stuff in my room. Devon has a good eye for that sort of thing too so she'll get some good parts ready."

He dropped down to the ground landing softly and began to walk outside into the city. He'd take his time today. He didn't want to lose his fellow guild member. "Where do you fancy? Its on me. Sword and food...seems a good congratulations reward for passing your exam to me."

"Seems we have a lot in common." Ayato responded, "I was cursed by a demon long ago, and people forgot about me. Man was that a struggle to get over." Ayato lied a little here. He did not actually fix the problem; the curse was lifted unknowingly. However, in return, Ayato was forced to start life anew. He knew one day, he would have to confess his full history to at least Ayeseru for being his "brother" in this guild, but that could wait- there was no rush. Frankly, speaking this much about his history did not bother Ayato at all after hearing what Zack had to say about himself. "Anyways, I'm glad you're solving your problems." Ayato added.

Ayato smirked when Zack accepted his offer. "It's your choice as to where we go." Ayato pointed, "I gave you the offer of having some food with me, so it's best that you give me your preference." It was the part about fixing Ayato's sword, however, that impressed Ayato most. He did not want to answer that part immediately because he wanted to check over his own sword first. It was not that he didn't trust Zack- he did quite a lot, actually. It was just that he wanted to envision the potential his sword could have with new additions.

Once Zack was on the ground for a bit, and his trusted fairy went to the forge, Ayato handed his sword over to his trusted, fellow guild member. "Take good care of it." Ayato mentioned, "Believe it or not, I did not find this weapon; it came to me after the curse I mentioned was lifted. Same with this book." Ayato revealed the book that always accompanied the sword in battle. The excitement of having a sword upgraded made Ayato feel like he should uncover more about the book, afterwards. He was really hyped up now, honestly, and was at a loss for words. He never imagined the conversation to escalate like this. "Be sure to tell me that I owe you later on for this." Ayato joked.

Zack focused slightly and formed his second weapon, the one he didn't keep at his waist. This sword was almost identical to the one that Seitenshi now held, but in Zack's case the material was a lot stronger and it held a much deeper magical power. "Probably won't be able to get it to this level...not yet anyway. Ran out of the bits I used and I don't think i've got anything else quite this high quality." he said thoughtfully and then sent the blade back to wherever it had come from. "Still, should be able to give it a bit of a boost." he handed the sword back to Seitenshi. "Keep hold of it till we get back. No sense me taking it when we are going out to eat"

He then kept walking and looked about thinking of where they could go to eat. His tastes had changed since acquiring his new body as it had the last time. He'd tried a few things he liked before and hadn't liked them at all. "You know...i'm still getting used to this new body so I've got no real idea what I like...so you pick."

Ayato sighed happily towards his sword while it was being handled by his friend. So he planned to upgrade it, it seemed. Fantastic! Ayato always hoped to hit a new stage in his swordsmanship, so having an opportunity like this was very convenient. Of course he could wait, however, since the two wanted to eat first. Ayato took the sword back and nodded as a sign of thanks. He followed after Zack while the two planned to find somewhere appealing to eat, though after a certain remark Zack made, Ayato laughed. "Well let me tell you how I still knew it was you- or at least I guessed." Ayato commented, "Your new body has a lot of similar features to your own. That, and your long hair hasn't really changed. Lucky change, I suppose." After this comment, Ayato continued to walk further alongside his fellow guild member.

"There's a sushi restaurant just a few blocks away." Ayato suggested in response to another comment Zack made about food, "I suppose we could eat there. Oh, and it's on the house, so no worries about payment." Valin was also following after the two Mages while they went out to get sushi, at this point. Valin pretty much liked any food Ayato did, so he would not mind this trip either. "So why did you need this new body?" Ayato asked, "Just makes me wonder how a change in someone can be so drastic."

"Well this is my third body." Zack said after a brief pause as they walked towards the Sushi Restaurant. "Or my first in a way. Long ago I was taken from my home by a powerful entity known as the Sky Emperor. He altered my memories to make me forget who I was and in order to stop it being triggered he altered my body." he said and decided to explain more of his past.

He explained that once he had been called to a secret realm known as Malkariss, the land Devon was from, in order to defend them against a powerful beast. He had done so, but his eye had become cursed so was replaced. Problem was he had only driven off the beast and eventually had to come back to defend the city again. That time he had managed to defeat the beast, but his body was cursed beyond belief and was unable to be used. Using magic the demon fairies had created a new body for Zack. "That was the body you saw me in last time we met." Zack said and then continued with his story.

He told of his mission with Ayeseru. A mission where they had fought together against seven gigantic monsters and their servants in order to gain certain items for a man they thought was mere smith. In exchange he would forge them new items. When they eventually handed the items to the smith two crystals formed. One of starlight and one of darkness. Zack took the starlight one and headed to the magic council. Eventually he would find out what the item was and its power would unlock his memories and open a portal to the celestial spirit realm. The realm where he had been taken from. He was in fact a celestial spirit and quite an important one, but the Celestial Spirit King refused to tell him why and even his unlocked memories had not revealed it to him. "The Celestial Spirit King used his powers to recreate my original body and thats what you see now."

He didn't explain to Seitenshi why he had gone to the magic council after the job. He didn't want to worry the man. Nothing might come of it so far and it was always possible the evil monkey wouldn't reveal himself. However, if he did Zack had to be ready. He was trying to bond with guild members when he could to help them grow so that they stood a chance. Two S rank mage's hadn't even been able to scratch him. Hopefully if they had a small army of them they might stand a chance.

"Wait a minute! If the Sky Emperor did things like that to you, why did you mention his name during our fight with Ladon? Or was it Sky King?" Ayato asked, "Just wondering, of course. You may decline to answer, obviously." He found this all interesting; the concept of swapping bodies. When Ayato looked at himself, he hoped nothing would ever change about him; that he would always be youthful, and not have to see anything drastic change about himself due to some issues. "However, I would like to know this..." Ayato added, "Why do you think all of these occurrences have happened to you? A demon once planned to curse my sister, though the demon got me, itself. I shortly found out later that my parents were threatened by a demon to sign a contract of unleashing this curse or else they would die."


Ayato and Zack conversed more about these stories, while Ayato found himself eventually in the pestering mood. These stories were just far too interesting, though Ayato probably thought of them also as depressing for Zack. Albeit, there was one strong feeling behind all of these stories that Ayato admired most; trust. Ayato doubted Zack would speak so much about his history to just anybody. No, Ayato felt like Zack trusted him, and that he was deserving to hear all of which Zack was currently discussing. "You know, since that fight with Ladon, and a meeting with Ayeseru, I always had this ideal plan to fight alongside you two in a job or something." Ayato remarked, "You two are my upperclassmen, anyway, so learning as you two fight with me would be amazing! Someday, I hope to fight against you guys too; see who is truly the strongest between us three!" Of course, Ayato was just kidding about the last part. Strength did not matter much between guild members unless they fought alongside each other. Otherwise, the concept was set aside. "Now, let me get more explicit about my story." Ayato finally responded confidently.

"So I used to live a very fortunate life- though this one is much better. It was becoming better and better on a daily basis, but I did not know why. Life was just becoming for successful for my parents, and therefore for me, so I just got to do what I wanted. It turns out, however, that a demon was always behind this fortune. Once it got the chance, it threatened my parents for their lives. The demon told them they had two choices; death, or it would unleash a curse upon what it believed to be the most fragile human being in the family: my sister. Mind you, the demon never told my parents in detail what the curse would do, though they signed the contract of having the curse unleashed, anyway. So the demon suddenly went after my sister, and nearly cursed her until I interfered. Since then, nobody could recognize me, and everyone close to me forgot about me. The moment I became out of one's sight, all memories they had of me would disappear. I was practically non-existent to everybody. I ran endlessly throughout Fiore to find a cure for this curse until I suddenly felt the presence of magic in my body. A book and sword suddenly appeared in my hand, and there somehow, the curse was lifted. This book and sword could literally speak to me telepathically, and throughout time, these two items gave me power. I became an official mage, and later on, and official member of Blue Pegasus. Cool, huh?"


Ayato had a bright smile on his face after this story. He could always forget about that dark past now, though he would never forget the previous memories he had as a Blue Pegasus member. Those past events brought him to the present time, where he seemed existent, remembered, and very much appreciated, in that matter. The present was ultimately a cure for the past, which Ayato found weird, yet extraordinary at the same time. The two exchanged more stories about their history until they hit the restaurant. Ayato's book was gathering every story Zack told about his own history so Ayato would remember it. "I've never heard of the Celestial Spirit King." Ayato confessed, "I have heard of Celestial Spirit magic before, but nothing more than that." Ayato felt back about being unable to recognize some factors about his friend. Truthfully, a lot of these stories he could not understand, though by his ways of listening, he tried his best to. "So, to conclude, do you enjoy your life now, Zack?" Ayato asked jokingly. The two eventually arrived at a sushi restaurant unknowingly, though Ayato was proud that it took such a long time to get there due to their conversations.

"No Idea why it happened, just did." Zack said in response to the occurences with a shrug. He had no real idea why it had happened except that he had been important to the celestial spirit king. "As for the technique names...well...I was trained by the emperor and his four strongest servants the sky kings...had no idea about my real past till recently...so yeah...that's the reasoning for the names."


"Me, you and Ayeseru would make an unbeatable team. My speed, his skill and your brains...heck who could match that?" Zack replied with a grin. He knew a lot about Ayeseru. It was with Ayeseru that he'd gained the crystal that unlocked his true power. "Me and him have a few more jobs to do in the future....perhaps you can tag along. You might need to gain a bit more power though so Shu lets you join us. Not often we do small jobs."

"Sounds like your sword is going to be rather interesting to work on." Zack said and thought back to the celestial spirit king and his sword as well as Zack's own. All powerful artifacts he had worked on. It would be interesting to see how the other swords fared.

"The Celestial Spirit king rules over the celestial spirits and far outclasses any of them, I doubt all 13 Zodiacs together could match him." he said and considered some of the things he had fought in the past. He was pretty sure that the monkey king might pose the celestial spirit one a threat. "Acnologia would probably be able to beat him
though. I couldn't even scratch him as an A rank mage."

IT seemed that they had finally arrived at the sushi restaurant. However Zack's keen ears caught an odd sound from within. Sobbing. He walked in cautiously and saw the sushi chef behind the counter staring at his knife in tears. It was broken into pieces. It seemed he'd hit something in one of the fish that he hadn't been expecting and it had shattered the blade. He stared at the people at the counter who were beginning to shout in anger. He sighed deeply and then flared his magic power. The entire room shook with his power.

]color=teal]"Calm down guys. The guy broke his knife....and by the looks of it...it was important to him. Cut him a bit of slack k?"[/color] One of the customers turned to face him a look of anger on his face. He was about to speak when suddenly Zack was in front of him holding a finger to his lips. "I get you wanted your food and its being delayed, but the guy can't be blamed for his knife shattering." He looked over to the sushi chef.

"Mind me taking over?" he asked. The chef just stared for a moment and shook his head. WIth a grin Zack leapt over the desk and then with a gesture of his hand formed the black sword that looked oh so similar to Seitenshi's. Fortunately, there were pictures of all of the dishes on the side. The ingredients looked pretty obvious. The man looked skeptical, but Zack just grinned and tossed some of the fish into the air. In a blur he sliced it apart into the perfect portion size and then his hands became a blur as he prepared the rest and tossed it out to the various customers. "Probably not as good as this guy makes, but its my first time making sushi." The men stared increduously as they went to eat the fish. Meanwhile, Zack turned to the stunned sushi chef. "Come back to Blue Pegasus with me later. I'll fix up that knife."

"Well...this book and sword just came right into the palm of my hands a long time ago. Do you think somebody divine could have given these to me?" Ayato questioned, obviously speaking about his book and sword. He always wondered where they came from, especially since they never said anything. Perhaps they would one day, but until then, Ayato supposed they could keep their peace. It amazed Ayato that Zack accepted this new change with ease; a new body and the unravelling of his past. Ayato would be curious of himself for weeks if he found himself in a new body- or so he thought, at least.

"I still have much to learn..." Ayato remarked when Zack told him about the 'unbeatable team' he wished for, "There is still so much more to decipher about this book and sword, so I might as well take my team for shooting forward towards the missions you and Ayeseru are set upon." Obviously Zack's comment came in agreement with that, as well. The Guild Master had distinct standards set for all members of the guilds so nobody would be in an unfair position to rank-up. Every rank always had their own section on the job board so they could feel more comfortable with their tasks.

"I sure hope you can make the best of my sword just as I hope to make the best of it even further in the future." Ayato commented, "You can say this sword was my first friend, while this book is my extra brain. What amazes me is the fact that I will probably never know just how strong this book and sword will be. By the looks of them, it seems they will be two items to pass onto future generations." Ayato once again sealed the sword in his book, then proceeded to where the chef was in the sushi restaurant. This was until he and Zack both caught up to an ordeal.

The moment Zack revealed his sword, Ayato was struck with awe. The sword looked almost completely identical to his own, though Ayato could tell it was much stronger than his own. As he mentioned before, Zack had encountered the legendary Celestial Spirit King, who he bet had blessed the sword with his strength alongside the 'sky king' his fellow guild member discussed recently. It was funny to see him use it as a tool for cutting sushi. It was unfortunate to see him work while all the two wanted to do originally was eat, but it was a good deed. As long as it made the customers happy, so was Ayato. Sky Kings, the Celestial Spirit King and Acnologia. Ayato had recalled that name somewhere in his book, though he doubted it had any affiliation with it.

While the chef hung back unfortunately without doing his job, Ayato passed by him and handed him a bag of jewels. "Use this to find yourself a new knife while we help you out." Ayato suggested, "Meanwhile, we'll take care of business for you." The chef nodded and ran off momentarily. After this, Ayato would go behind the counter with Zack, but not to help him cut the sushi. Instead, he would pull out serviettes and cutlery to place upon the tables the restaurant offered in case any more customers piled up. He also grabbed menus to place on the tables so everybody wouldn't be running over to the chef unwanted. "No worries, Zack. We'll still take him back to the guild for a meal and drink; an apology for this mess." Ayato mentioned. This was turning out to be a bright day, after all.