The invites were sent out, all to an eclectic group, to meet the Lich in one of the many rooms in Samhain's Tower. Room 228 as it happened to be. It was a fairly standard meeting room, with biscuits and other assorted confectionary set out across the table. There were refreshments, mostly soft drinks but with some alcoholic beverages for any adults in the room. All in all, the layout wasn't unlike one of the rooms in Odin's Swineherd Pub, however the Lich would never do any kind of room service or bring biscuits for the people of Oak City. They weren't really the kind to appreciate such gifts, but perhaps he was just incorrectly judging them all at once. He was a little busy to meet every ne'er-do-well that entered his pub, but he supposed maybe a couple of them were actually doting parents with eight cats.

Pouring himself a glass of wine, and making a point to get back on track, Odin looked outside the huge window that took up most of the outer facing wall. The view, he had to admit, was spectacular up here, as he could see all throughout Samhain. It was an interesting city, almost a strange parody of Halloween, but there was no way to know if the celebration or the city had come first. Given the age of some of its inhabitants however, especially the enigmatic -and apparently immortal- mayor Samhain, Odin presumed it was the city. But then again, who could hate Halloween. The Lich would take a drink of his wine as he waited for the others to appear.

"Trick or treat, indeed."

"You know, have you ever thought about how greed is kind of an impossible thing to accomplish in a world like this?" Zane was just finishing up his cone of pumpkin flavored ice cream before heading into the room. He had bought it from a vendor outside, enticed by his promises of tasting the best flavor known to any ghoul. It was an 8/10 at best. "What exactly do you mean, Zane?" Beelzebub inquired, the demon curious as to his blonde host's question. "Well like, you want everything, right? But if you're in a world like this where new things are being made every day, you can never really have everything can't you?"

"..."

"..."

"Shut up and finish your ice cream! This is not the time nor place for us to start having some kind of existential crisis." Zane took the demon's advice and gobbled up the rest of his ice cream, sloppily eating it while waiting in the hall. As Zane finished up the cold treat, a bit of ice cream somehow managed to spill on the lower strap of his eyepatch. Taking it off as he bit into the bottom of the waffle cone, Zane spoke while eating, something his mother would've most likely scolded him for if he were here. "Shit." Zane took the eyepatch off and looked at it. There was no way he could wear this for now, even after wiping the ice cream off. It would be too sticky for his face. Sighing, Zane put the dirty eyepatch in his back pocket. He'd have to look 10% less attractive for this meeting unfortunately. "Can't win em all I guess..."

Opening up the door, Zane closed it behind him as he took in the sights of the room. The view was great. A boy Zane had not seen before was in the room. He had no real way of knowing it was Erebus. His appearance had changed drastically since their last meeting, at least from Zane's point of view. Zane looked mostly the same though. Looking towards the two other figures, Zane spotted both Zagan and Odin, Zagan seemingly getting very touchy with the skeleton. Hey, Zane didn't judge. Love was love. "Woah, hey Zagan! Moderate-length time no see. How ya been?" Zane moved a bit further into the room, crossing his arms and smiling as he leaned up against one of the walls to be with the group. Beelzebub seemed oddly nostalgic, though the Lord of the Flies' memory was not the best after having been brought into Zane's mind. "Zagan... where have I heard that one before...?"

On the first day of Halloween, the letter that Venus had awaited arrived at her doorstep at late evening. Room 228, Samhain Tower – the letter says with a signature that was all too familiar to her engraved at the bottom of the parchment paper. Samhain was the location that randomly appeared especially during the time of Halloween and while the region was completely unknown to her, she figured she could get her way around it somehow. While on her way to the rendezvous location, it was no surprise to see people dressed up as skeletons, vampires or with pumpkins fitted atop their heads like armour. The redhead, on the other hand, only held a pumpkin basket over her arm, filled with treats and although Venus didn’t particularly enjoy the celebration itself, she took delight in doing trick or treating.

Several minutes of waning through the streets filled with vampires and witches eventually brought her to Samhain’s Tower, up to the 200th floor where the meeting was supposedly held. For having over 200 floors, the building surely was a tall one. Thankfully, a magical elevator existed to escort her to the designated floor, otherwise her legs would’ve given up on her halfway there and she would’ve only arrived there the next morning or so. Unsure what to expect, the woman nudged the door open and entered the room, her wine-coloured eyes instinctively taking in everything that entered her sights. Her eyebrows rose, already seeing a few faces, with only two of them being familiar to her; Odin and Zane.

It seemed that Odin decided to dispose of his human impression and donned on his Lich appearance – one that she had recognized the moment her eyes laid on him due to her vampiric eye. The woman nodded at the Lich, acknowledging his presence before turning her head turned towards Zane, whom she wasn’t actually expecting to see this soon. ”Good to see you again, Eyepatch.” And for the remaining two, she had no information of them whatsoever aside from the fact that they were related to the discussion they were about to have. Whilst waiting for the show to begin, the huntress certainly made herself comfortable by seating herself on the couch, her arm casually draped over the armrest and her legs propped up on the table before her.

”Now what?”

Steel was a youngster. How all this had happened and how he had gotten to this point would have been a mystery if not for the fact that Steel had met both Lucas and Zagan. Especially since meeting Zagan something had been eating at the back of Steel’s mind. Was he truly a hero? Was his fate actually something else? Something not so beautiful?

As Steel walked around wondering about all of this on his way to the meeting spot that had been detailed in the letter he had received from Lucas. Steel was wearing his heavy plate armor and Mjolnir. You were required to make yourself look like a monster to be here. You had to wear a halloween outfit so to compliment his already existing outfit Steel had carved circular eyes in a burlap sack and pushed it over his head. Afterwards he had cut and carved a pumpkin into a jack o lantern but instead of removing the top part of the pumpkin he had removed the bottom so that he could stick his head inside. His get up was supposed to be something like a headless horseman.

Walking into the tower he arrived in the lobby. There seemed to be some sort of magical contraption where you walked into a box with doors that lifted people to the floor they wanted to go. So Steel stepped inside the box. It took him straight up to the two hundredth floor. He then found the conference room that they were going to have a meeting in. He put his gauntlet on the doorknob and opened the doors to the conference room and walked inside.

Erebus,Zane and Zagan were there but Lucas and Ko were nowhere to be seen. There was also a new person around. A woman. She was beautiful. But what was she doing here? All of this passed by through Steel’s head in a flash as he opened the door and walked inside.

Getting to the table Steel would put the book “Giorgio and the Dragon” on the table. He then looked at Erebus and then over to Zagan. “We got the book you wanted us to get.” Steel stopped for a bit but then continued “You want to tell us what the next destination is?” After saying that Steel walked back towards the wall that was next to door and leaned his back against it. “Also where is Lucas? He should have been here by now.”

One by one, they all entered the room. Most of them used the door, but naturally Zagan decided to just appear from thin air in front of Odin. He had sent the invitations to mostly everyone he knew that could be interested, as well as the few that had been recommended by others. Ko, Marwyn and Caius did not show, perhaps they had decided not to pursue the power of nightmare with as much fervour as the others. Regardless, the main unknown for Odin was the green haired one who arrived first, clearly more relaxed than most which posed the question: how much did he actually know? Odin had considered it many times when thinking of their group. Most of them hadn't even met Odin, in fact Venus and Zane were the only ones gathered who had been introduced to the Lich, and Venus had been accidental.

Steel's arrival signified the final person, as he took out the book Zagan had tasked him to find and placed it on the table. Odin had yet to say a word to any of them, curious how much they had been told about Zagan, Nightmare, and the powers they were about to receive. His first utterance would be a deep chuckle as Steel asked where Lucas was. The first of the group he had met, back during his time in Fairy Tail. The one he had corrupted, forced out of his guild with the promise of power. Facing the others, Odin would take the black key out of his cloak and hand it to Zagan, "Perhaps not the group we had all expected to make it this far, but the tasks are complete. It's time to honour your side and give us the power." The demon lord's arm stayed around Odin, mostly because the Lich did not risk moving it or trying to do anything that would anger Zagan. At the end of the day, even if he had no idea what the being was, Odin knew was that he was ancient and powerful.

"Suppose we should get this out of the way though." He sighed slightly before continuing, it would be good to get everyone on the same page before the proceeded further, "First, for Steel. I am Lucas, or at least I was. In reality, I am Odin Morningstar, former cultist and current wizard lord." That would give him enough to deal with so next up were Venus and Erebus. "I don't know how much you've been told about our group so I might as well start from the beginning. This guy", Odin gestured towards Zagan, "will no doubt fill in any blanks I leave. We are about to tap into an ancient power that has not been accessed for a very long time. With that power, we'll each be able to complete our own goals but we will also be granted the opportunity to change Fiore, shape it however we desire. Make it somewhere that anyone can become as strong as they want, and no one will judge them differently just because one's father was a drunk while the other's a king." Odin decided to stop there, as he was starting to get too involved in his deception and didn't want to let it slip that his goals were wildly different than those outlined. It was true that Nightmare was a power that could achieve all the things he had said, it could make Fiore stronger and, if all went to that plan, better for everyone living in the country. However, there was still the slight matter of HER, and that was Odin's endgame. Nothing else was as important to the Lich.

Zane nodded towards Venus, smiling. He had a fondness for the nickname she had given him, even if he didn't realize that it wasn't because she found his eyepatch as cool as he did. Steel was also here now, and it finally seemed like all the places were in piece. Zane simply watched the proceedings from the side now, finding it better to observe for now. He was usually quite goofy, but on certain ocassions he could be quite intelligent. The reason Zane wasn't speaking was because he was thinking about all the people in this room. Zane didn't know much about Steel, and none of his interactions could really give him a good idea as to what the man was like. Zane already knew Odin to a degree. The fact that he was a Wizard Lord didn't do much to make Zane feel intimidated like most did. While he understood it was a prestigious title, Zane also knew that Odin and him at least showed some sort of level of mutual respect - at least from Zane's point of view. If that wasn't the case Odin most likely would've killed Zane for the considerable number of skeleton jokes he had already made so far.


Then there was Venus, someone he'd also grown to know, probably more than anyone else in the guild thus far. Zane didn't need to do much reading into her. He was more interested in the green haired boy, a man Zane didn't yet realize was the one he had suggested for the guild in the first place. He seemed to be very suspicious of Zagan, something that Zane had also noticed Beelzebub was feeling. "What's got you so hung up about this guy? You're not usually this quiet, your flyship."

"I... don't know. My memory's acting up again, just like it did around the time we met Masami." Zane looked towards Zagan. Just who were they working for? In truth, Zane probably actually did hear something or another that could point towards that, but he was kinda tired the day he met Zagan; the dungeon had made him think mostly of getting back to his bed rather than whatever epic plot the dark haired man had been brewing up. Speaking of that day, Zane turned attentively to the green haired man as he asked where Ko was. Right, Ko. He was there with them, right? Steel, Zane, Odin and Ko. 3 of them were here, but one was gone. Zane knew even less about Ko than he did about Steel, so he just assumed he chose not to come. After all, that Caius person that Odin had with them in Argyle's dungeon wasn't here. Nor was Marwyn. Zane really should send a letter to her soon, especially considering he hadn't seen her since that dungeon.

Zagan pointed to Erebus, making Zane raise his eyebrow. What the hell? The black haired man right after started speaking about a taste of power. Was Erebus granted something? A small pout of sorts came on Zane's face. He wished he could got a taste of power. Was he not special enough? "All the way in Oak, eh..." That was a long walk. Why couldn't they do it somewhere close? Still, Zane supposed ancient books and keys probably weren't everywhere. Oak was an old city, at least to Zane's knowledge. Made sense.

"Yeesh, what an exit... wish I could do that." Zane seemed very clearly impressed by the way Zagan left, standing up straighter and scratching his chin a bit. Either way, it was time to get on with things. Not bothering to read into anyone anymore, Zane decided to go back to being what was closer to his regular self. Pushing himself off the wall, Zane walked closer to the center of the room, grabbing one of the donuts he had seen the green hair man chowing into earlier. Also choosing to shove it down his throat, Zane spoke as he ate the donut in his mouth. "Yo, before we go I wanted to pitch this cool name I thought of with Odin the day we met." That was the translated version of what Zane said. With the donut shoved in his mouth, in reality it sounded more along the lines of. "Ho befiewgn wuh go I hwanped tewngw jowbnbgpwben the day we met." That wasn't exactly the way it sounded, but if we're being honest, trying to simulate someone talking while their mouth is full is actually super fucking hard jesus christ, I don't wanna do that ever again.

"Eternal Nightmare." Zane said, a big smile on his face as he made the epic title drop. It was a name he had come up with back in that field, the day they all first met Zagan - only Odin had been around to hear the moment Zane came up with it. "Pretty cool name for our little group, right? It's like, damn, we're eternal. You know, forever. Like, married." His reasoning was perfect. Beelzebub seemed to recover from his quietness, now speaking sarcastically in Zane's mind as he usually did. "I feel bad for you, Zane. I can see now that you inherited your naming skills from your parents. I'm sorry that Earthland genetics had to treat you this way."

Ignoring the lord of the flies' diss, Zane looked happily towards the group, quickly leaning over to grab another donut, one that he chose to eat like a normal person rather than what he did before. "So, what do you think?" Zane asked, now only talking in-between pauses of his eating. "I'm pretty good at naming things, right? What do you think, new guy?" Zane looked towards Erebus, not yet aware that it was the guy he had request be in the guild in the first place. The only question was, who would be the first one to remember that they knew each other?

Venus was just as clueless as to the others who entered the room, if not – worse, especially since she was here without having any information about what they would be doing other than the fact that she was invited to the Samhain Tower for some ’discussion’. The woman was silent, calculating. Despite seeing a few familiar faces, she had no knowledge of why there were here, to begin with. Zane, the person whom she was most acquainted with, had brought up something about a group of people, or perhaps a cult that had some relation to the dragons. Mayhap she was wrong; that was just how little information she had on these people.

She couldn’t help but chuckle to herself slightly when a particular dark-haired man asked for Lucas, without knowing that the person he was searching for was standing right before him. Of course, it was fortunate of her to have known Odin’s true form all along with the help of her vampiric eye otherwise, she would be in the same position as this young man: rather bewildered.

It was only then when all were gathered in the room, Odin eventually explained the reason of their urgent assembly. Slowly but surely, her questions were answered as though certain parts of her brain were unlocked and bit by bit, everything started to make sense to her. Her brow rose upon the mention of ’ancient power’; not because she was interested in gaining it, but because it was one that she hasn’t heard for a long time. As much as her memories could recall, the only times she has ever heard it – or rather – read it, was only in books. She wasn’t aware it was actually possible to achieve it.

Power wasn’t something Venus craved, instead it was money. She believed in a certain quote that said that money could buy happiness and it was true for her, so she didn’t care whether or not they were attaining ancient power, but was merely here as a stepping stone for her goal. Upon questioning of this power, Zagan even displayed a fair share of it by doing something to the fellow green-haired individual. She couldn’t witness the result of it, but she could clearly sense that it was an unworldly experience, one that has never occurred to her before. A line of perspiration formed near her temple, it was no doubt that this man was powerful, but why did he choose them as his subjects? The question lingered though never passed her lips.

What were they supposed to do in Oak? More questions rose to her, kept within and never answered. They will be. A voice reassured, as though she was reminding herself that she would be less confused about this all once she was out of this place. According to Zagan – whom she found insanely attractive and insanely powerful at the same time – they were to form the cult at Oak Town. Though she was still lacking some information, Venus was beginning to pick it up once again and when Zane decided to mumble gibberish in a recommendation of their little clique’s name, she couldn’t resist looking at him with disgust.

”What are you even saying?” She unintentionally spoke the words out loud from her mind. ”Hm, it could be better but, I can roll with that.” A small impressed frown formed upon her lips, brows raised and her head nodding in approval.

It's like, damn, we're eternal. You know, forever. Like, married.

Venus gagged in response.

Steel looked at Odin. This was the first time that Steel knew of Odin's existence. Of course he had heard about the Lich from town criers and bards. A terrible Lich as they had said. But all Steel had seen was the old man Lucas who had helped him immensely. Steel felt betrayed. Had he not garnered enough trust from Odin for them to tell him their real identity. Now Steel was starting to feel a bit pissed but he did not show it. Instead his face was blank. Cold, unmoving and apathetic. Due to Steel’s background losing his parents and only having his master to rely on whom also disappeared trust was something very important.

Next it was Erebus. He asked Steel who they were and what their agenda was to which Steel answered.

“We are forming a guild. A dark guild that serves the purpose of turning this world upside down and as I have understood it destroying the socio economic pyramid that controls this world. Allowing all who prove themselves and make their most out of life to be able to take control and claim their dreams goals without having kings and lords standing in their way.”

Steel was obviously referring to how the current structure of the world was that those who were poor would continue to be so because they had no ability to climb in the pyramid of power. And that kings and queens would never allow anyone else to be as powerful or rich as themselves. The very well known Feudal society structure. More or less they were a revolution but of course they also had their own goals.

Steel stopped before continuing. “To start our little revolution or guild or “this thing of ours” we need a bit of help and power first not only to do the things we want but also to lose our fears and inabilities to do what we want. We need this man.” Steel pointed to Zagan. “Because he has promised us the power we need and I think he might be the only one capable of getting us that power.” It seemed Erebus did not need this power but Steel did. Steel was contrary to belief very afraid but he never showed it to anyone. The reason he was fighting evil was because he had once been afraid of it and he never wanted to be reminded of that feeling again.

Steel pondered. What did he want? He was obviously no longer a hero. So what did he want? The world had turned upside down for him more than anyone. All of the other ones here except maybe Zane seemed to be crooks of different types and Steel had to admit to himself he too was a crook now.

The thought was depressing. He couldn't speak. Was this what his life had come to? Being evil? The one thing he had strived to fight against for all his life… The thought was maddening, it was making him insane. He could only just hear Erebus talk about the money that he was promised and by the time that Steel looked up at him to answer whatever Zagan had done to Erebus would have passed by without Steel even knowing about it.

But still Steel was going to reply when he remembered. Where was the money? Had he brought money? Wait a minute he was sure he was going to bring money I mean this was the day they closed the deal right? Shit. Steel had not brought any money except for his own. Luckily he was loaded. So Steel just put his hand where his bag of money was and threw the entire thing on the table. It would have been immeasurably heavy to a weak person but to Steel it was like throwing a pillow.

The bag would come crashing down onto the table with the sound of metal hitting metal and also the sound of something heavy encased in leather hitting wood. “There’s your money.” It wasn't all of Steel’s money but it was probably enough to cover whatever costs Erebus was going to make.

Then Steel looked to Zane. He was talking with his mouth full of food and was almost incomprehensible but when he said the name Eternal Nightmare, Steel was reminded of that day in front of Zagan’s dungeon. The day they first had the idea to band together and do this. The hot woman Steel did not know seemed to be ok with the name and Steel was so now it was just up to Erebus who would probably also agree to it but Steel did not know that yet.

Before Odin's words to the group, where he explained their purpose and brought everyone up to speed, the green haired newbie asked and was answered by Steel. It was good that they had all formed their own relationships within the guild prior to the official formation, it would make working together all the more easier. Perhaps that was why Zagan had given them the tasks: to force them into some state of camaraderie. Regardless, the ancient being took the book and started flicking through the pages, after having done something to Erebus. Little did Odin know, his new guildmate had just experienced the exact same sensation that the Lich himself had gone through in the Dungeon, as he had picked up the Black Key, except on a much smaller scale. Where Erebus had experienced a decade in an instant, Odin had lived through a hundred years by himself. After all that time, he was eager to progress.

Their next, and final, location would be a tower in Oak Town. The black key would unlock the door and they would finally have a place to call their own. Or, in Odin's case, another place. It worked well in his favour that the spire was located in Oak City, as it gave him the ability to watch over his pub, and the city in general. He already had a foothold, next he would gain control of the entire area. And, after that, the entire West.

Zagan disappeared moments after, leaving the group to themselves. Zane chimed in at that point, initially babbling through a mouthful of donut before announcing the name of their group: Eternal Nightmare. Something he had spoken of once before, back when it had all began. The name fit the group and its leader well and nobody seemed to possess any resentment towards it, officially settling the name. It wasn't the only item of interest to be settled. Erebus was passed a large sum of money by Steel, apparently payment for breaking into Crocus and stealing an ancient book. The payment looked fair given the task, and money was not the only thing that would be gained from the endeavour. They all had so much more to gain from this. Odin could feel it already, he could access the power of Nightmare. Perhaps not its final form, but a strong boost to his abilities nonetheless. He would take a final drink of his wine, finishing the glass, and address his guildmates.

"It's good you all know at least one other. We will all likely know the rest well enough in time. Together, we are going to change this world, and no one is going to be able to stop us. If there are no more questions for me, regarding the power or the reasons", Odin would pause to allow the members to voice any final opinions before he began his departure, "I will see you all again in Oak. Best of luck in your individual endeavours." The journey to Oak would be long, so they could all take their time and enjoy their brief stay in Samhain. However, shortly after that ended, business would truly begin.

-Exit-

Despite Venus noting that it could be better, Zane was glad that she seemed to be impressed by the name. The others didn't note much of it though, which was disappointing. Oh well, ya can't win em all. While Odin spoke of the guild's plans, Zane watched as the green haired man seemed to dismiss himself and walk out of the room. "Huh... I wonder who he is." Beelzebub also seemed curious about it all. "You know, he got a lot quieter after that man touched him." Zane thought to himself. Maybe whatever taste of power Zagan gave the guy made him tired? That could be it. More importantly the rest of the guild seemed to have no objections to Zane's choice of name. Perfect. Standing up as Odin finished his speech, Zane smiled and nodded at the skeleton man. "Hopefully nobody GHOSTS us, right?" He asked with a confident smile on his face, truly believing that his joke was actually funny. "Alright, that covers the pun objective. Perfect."

Zane quickly bent down to grab another donut, wanting to take it with him. "I'll see you all in Oak then. Sucks it's a far while away, though..." Zane had been in Oak earlier in the year. He had heard of a guild named Advent World when he was around. He wondered if they were still there? Hopefully they wouldn't cause any troubles when it came to the matter of this place they were supposed to visit. Taking a bite from the donut, Zane spoke to whoever was still left as he exited the room, ready to continue his adventures in Samhain for the remainder of the night. "I'm gonna go eat some pumpkin pie or something, if any of you wanna come along with your awesome, cool, handsome guildmate then feel free to follow." Zane wondered if any of them would want to go. Odin was a skeleton, so he figured that any attempt at eating pumpkin pie would probably just pass through his bones and create a mess on the floor. Steel seemed too serious to want to go get some, at least to Zane anyways. As for Venus, Zane had a feeling he'd end up somehow bumping into her regardless of if she chose to follow him. That seemed to happen a lot to the two of them so far.

"See ya later!"

EXIT

Steel was exhausted from all the serious seriousness he had been doing ever since entering this meeting room. He sighed a sigh of relief as Zane relieved the tension in the room.

It seemed to be something Zane was an expert at. Steel would not answer Odin. Not only was he annoyed at the fact that Lucas did not exist but the explanation of their purpose had already been made clear.

Erebus left the room and Odin followed behind him leaving only the hot woman, Zane and Steel in the room. Zane took a bite of a donut and as he was leaving the room he mentioned going out to eat pumpkin pie.

Even inviting others to go with him. The meeting had left Steel hungry so he too started leaving the room. He exclaimed“Yeah I could go for a bite!” and as they left he tried to make social with Zane talking about his normal background of growing up on a farm and other things but leaving out all the sad shit like his parents dying.

He wanted to become better friends with the people of the guild. After all he was very probably going to spend a lot of time with them henceforth.

-Exit-