Oak was perhaps the second most peaceful city that Shimura had ever come across, right next to Era. But, at least to his knowledge, it was not the oldest place. In his home in Joya, Shimura believed that there were places older than Oak City, or at least old as oak city. Then again, there could be the chance that he was wrong, and well, there was nothing he could do if he were wrong. Well, he could pout and whine about being wrong, but that would end up doing nothing but embarrassing him. Whatever the case, the age of the city and if this was the oldest place he had been, was irrelevant to Shimura. What was relevant, is that he found the city to be peaceful, and honestly, Shimura could not help but feel satisfied and clam, at least for once in his life he had some semi-balance of peace, even if it was fake.

It would not surprise Shimura, if there were certain evils hiding within the shadows of Oak City, but at last, that was of no concern to him right now. Then again, for the most part, that was of no concern of him, period. Shimura was done being a solider, he was done of being head of the military of the late-Phoenix Feather, and he was done being a former Rune-Knight. He was a failure, and it was time for him to diminish into nothingness and obscurity, his father had one and he hated that, but at last his flame had been put out a long time ago. Put out when Phoenix feather was disbanded and consequently destroyed, and he knew of no way to relight the flame. For now, his main motivation, his main purpose tonight, was to find a place to eat and sleep and waste away.

He had heard that there was a pub in Oak City, one that was rather fabulous and extraordinary. There were other rumors about this pub, but in truth, Shimura chose to ignore these rumors and simply enjoyed himself. As he wandered about the street, turning a couple of corners and whatnot, the magma mage finally came across the infamous Swineherd Pub. With a heavy sigh, he pushed open the doors, and sluggishly made his way to the bar.

It was an interesting sight to be sure: the most infamous wizard lord in Fiore serving drinks and food behind a bar in some random area in Oak City. Maybe to newcomers it was, but the local clientele had welcomed the Lich back with as open arms as a group of criminals and ne'er-do-wells could, which wasn't much. A couple of grunts, some smiles from the ones who thought they were much more familiar with Odin than they were, and knowing nods from the ones who truly were, although that was a very limited number. Perhaps it was just because of how long he had spent away, but Swineherd Pub had never felt more like home than it did that day. Having checked his underground basement first, which doubled as a secret shrine to his Goddess, Odin felt truly happy to be back, but he was here on business.

It had been too long since Odin had visited his shrine, had prayed to HER. He had to bless the shrine, and there was one tried and true method which always worked when performing deeds for an immortal deity capable of destroying the world with a snap of her fingers: human sacrifice. But it wouldn't do to pick just anyone. They would need to be strong, a mage if possible, to truly be a sacrifice worthy of HER grace. All Odin needed to do was find someone in his pub who looked like a mage, and who had no purpose, some so dejected and down than no one would miss them, if they themselves even did.

His anxieties were answered almost the moment the evening rush began. A man walked in, terrible burn scar on the side of his face, with a deep sigh. He moved to the bar, every step looking like the hardest thing he had done in years. Dismissing his bartender for a few minutes, Odin would approach the man from the other side of the bar, "It seems like you're feeling how I look and you're clearly new around here. Where you from, and what's your poison?" Playing the kind Lich routine was a lot harder now that Odin was older and more well recognised, but he simply defaulted to what he knew, and hoped the man would be too broken to really care.

The man was clearly having a bad day, not even bothering to look up at the Lich serving him as he requested for something a bit more exotic than the usual customers: sake from Joya, likely this man's home country. The deathly visage of the Lich turned around behind him, never being afraid to show his back to any customer. If they wished to try and kill him, to claim his bounty or to end his existence, then they were welcome to give it their best shot, "Hard one to come by, but yes we have some here. Quite far from home, aren't you. What brought you to Fiore?" Odin needed the information, needed that confirmation that this man could be a good kill for him, for HER.

Given how the man looked, Odin didn't pour him a drink. Instead, he sat the bottle and sake cup next to the man. He could drink however much he wanted and, if he survived the day, then he'd pay. If not, well he'd be giving his life to HER which was more than any monetary amount could provide. Waiting for the man's response, Odin would then continue on the man, trying to get as much information while also setting up the man's perfect demise, "Is there anything else I can get you? We do food too and you look like you might need something?"

“Eh, oh. Yea I am far from home. I guess you could say that.” The magma mage shrugged his shoulders absent-mindedly, and finally looked up to find such a remarkable and disturbing sight before him. The man didn’t seem to be much of a man at all, now, that was admittedly concerning, but now, in his broken state Shimura did not care, and while it did concern him he simply stifled his anxieties and ignored them. “The rune-knights, and then Phoenix feather, but those two things are simply in the past and for now, I am simply looking for a reason to exist.” Shimura stated truthfully, once again his attention was cast down to the bar counter.

As the creature offer Shimura some food, the magma’s stomach rumbled and growled furiously like a beast. Shimura would calmly nod in agreement, “How about women as well, hell, men too.” He made a sour attempt at a joke but waived his own comment away. “I don’t have a lot of money, at most, I have enough to pay for my drink and that is it. Therefore, while food would be nice, well, I simply cannot afford it." He would place down a bag of jewels as he spoke, there weren’t many jewels in it, at least enough to pay for the drink.

Shimura was behind frustrated at his lack of money, especially since he had grown up with such an abundance of money that it was literally flowing like a pond lavished riches. But at last those days were now over.

There it was, the information Odin needed. Not only a mage, but a former member of the Rune Knights, not to mention the Phoenix Feather guild which had merged with Fairy Tail only recently. Odin thought about Kazimir then, guildmaster of Phoenix Feather when it had existed. It was a good thing the Lich had left before he had joined, as there was no doubt in Odin's mind that the wind mage would be able to see right through his illusion. He had seemed to recognise Lucas when they had all met outside Zagan's Dungeon, imagine how it would've occurred within the Fairy Tail guildhall.

If Odin cared about humanity, or anything really, he would've felt sorry for the pathetic man, who didn't even have enough money to pay for the sake. He hoped he would be able to cover the drink, but importing sake from Joya was not cheap, and was certainly not easy. He put his money on the table, and Odin accepted it without hesitation, before signalling to one of his workers to prepare a meal for the man, "Well I would've be much of a pub owner if I didn't help out the unfortunate every once in a while. The meal is on me, men and women too but I imagine the meal will be more than enough when you try it." What he didn't know was that it would be his last meal, the 'Final Supper' as the cook knew it. Odin's entire staff force, despite their meek appearances, were all devotees of HER, and followed Odin as HER champion, and so they were prepared to do whatever he asked of them.

Before long, a beautifully prepared steak, laced with an agent that would render the man barely mobile and in need of somewhere to rest, appeared before the former knight. The dead look behind the red lights of Odin's eyes flickered for a moment, as the ancient being wondered how it could be so easy. A man who had spent his life as Odin's enemy would die at his hands, without the two ever having interacted before this day. Odin decided to give him one last courtesy, even if he didn't know. An outstretched hand to signal the beginning, and end, of their meeting.

"Odin Morningstar, proprietor of this fine establishment. And you are...?"

Before merging with Fairy Tail, Shimura Shigaraki was the head of military operations at Phoenix Feather. It was his job to maintain order and peace within Port Asteria, but unfortunately, that was no longer his job. In truth, Shimura felt a little awkward and estranged within Fairy Tail, and admittedly he hated it there with a pure passion. Fairy Tail was too unruly in his opinion, and well, he felt like he had no purpose being a member of Fairy Tail. Shimura however, would keep his former title and position a secret from this mysterious creature, mainly, as some measure of protection against any evil eye who held a grudge or some sort of hatred and ill will towards him. After all, Shimura was not the best of people while he maintained both positions, and his pursuit of absolute justice caused a lot of bad than it did good. 

It was embarrassing to see how far he had sunken into poverty and despair, and admittedly, he did not want anymore thoughts about his old life. Shimura was a little surprised to see that the ‘bartender’ had offered him a free meal, if it was not for his hungry, the magma mage would deny the meal and simply leave. But his hunger was too great, and his apathy even greater. “Men and women on you as well? I’ll take the meal, though I don’t know why you would want to lose money, but oh well. As for the men and women, I was simply joking.” Shimura did his best to ignore the man’s creepy demeanor, and intimidating stature. The meal being placed in front of him officially clouded his mind and stifled in ill thought.

Shimura was quick to cut into the steak and take a bite, but immediately, the magma’s mages demeanor faltered when the mysterious lich mentioned who he was, Odin Morningstar; that name was all too familiar to Shimura. For a moment, a coating of magma would instinctively wrap around the mage’s fist, melting the fork. A familiar feeling of righteous anger washed over Shimura, his gaze faltering to the steak below him, and back up to Odin. It did not take long to realize what was happening. “Shimura Shigaraki, former military commander of Phoenix Feather, and I assume now your victim.” The fist of magma immediately disappeared as soon as the fork melted into goo, Shimura did not bother to fight Odin, he knew that it would be useless. With a normal hand, Shimura would take Odin's hand. Shimura would finish his food, already accepting his fate to be poisoned, and upon feeling its effects, request a room so that he could diminish and die alone. 

Timing the revelation of who Odin was with the man's first bite was nothing short of a masterstroke. A perfect crescendo in the symphony of Shimura's demise. The look in the man's eyes: anger, fear and then acceptance, was beautiful. He knew what was happening, he knew there was no escape and so he simply let it all happen. He finished his steak with another fork brought by the chef, since he had used what looked like lava to melt the one given previously, and allowed Odin to walk him away. The man's vision was as unsteady as his legs at this point and Odin, ever the gentleman, would begin to walk him towards his room. Except, they weren't going his room.

Deep in the basement beneath the pub, after opening the door within the cellar by twisting a specific one of the hundreds of bottles stacked there. He would lead Shimura in, closing the door behind as he locked them both inside. There, the shrine to HER, emanating with dark magic just as it had the day Odin had created it. The exact spot where SHE had saved him from death, a death that would've been caused by his own hand had he not heard HER voice.

Shimura would be unconscious now, never to awaken and Odin would lay him down on the floor before the shrine, taking the knife in his hands as he spoke, his voice low and in reverence to his goddess, "May the power of this mage bring you one step closer to your return, my lady." With a bow, Odin plunged the dagger deep into the man's chest, watching the life leave him once and for all. His blood began to trickle up the dagger, the blade absorbing the powers that Shimura had once held as the man's corpse shrivelled away into dust. There would be no remains of the former knight, his soul now along with so many others, trapped by the blade, taken by Odin, all with the promise of HER return.

-Exit-