Chapter 148: You Know I Am Not The Only One.
Fiona and Luna had never seen eye to eye before! Fiona would have ended the quarrel a long time ago by using her ability, but Fiona couldn't do that because Luna was so fucking strong that Fiona's powers just bounces off her like it is nothing!. In fact, Fiona has to be careful when she is around Luna to make sure that they don't get into a physical fight.
Fiona knew that she couldn't win that in a million years, so she always made sure that their conflicts were only verbal or psychological in nature.
And right now, Fiona felt like she was on top of the world. Fiona heard some of the things that Luna and Mark just spoke about and she knew that Luna was trying to recruit Mark into her guild. The mere fact that Fiona got Mark before Luna could just made everything right in Fiona's world! Fiona didn't even care to know why Luna wanted Mark so badly, she just knew that she won!
Fiona turned to Mark and smiled at him in that sultry big sister manner once more, and Mark just raised a questioning brow at her. What the hell was she doing here?
Fiona spoke up kindly as he heard Mark's question.
"I received a call from one of our members. He said there was a calamity class in the region and requested help. I figured you would be here and decided to come see you. Aren't I just the best guild leader?"
"YES, MADAM FIONA!"
The group that was standing behind Fiona all responded together, and Mark just scoffed. He looked towards Tylor, who was standing quietly to the side with his hands folded, and Tylor gave Mark a nod in greeting.
Mark joined the Artemis guild about a week ago. This was actually a plan that he and Pat came up with together.
After the lawsuits were brought up accusing Mark of going against the Superhuman laws when he went to the island raid without permission from any governmental personnel, Pat searched for a way for Mark to avoid going to court or showing up in a hearing, and Pat found out that most of the hearings and charges would be suspended if Mark was simply part of a guild.
Mark didn't want to join any guild; he didn't like being tied down like that. But Pat told him that it was better to just join a guild and let things cool down before leaving the guild after some time and going independent again. There are no laws stating that you have to be a part of one guild forever or that you cannot leave a guild after joining it.
So if Mark leaves the guild after two or three months, then there would be no backlash at all.
Mark agreed to this since it was a sensible plan, and Mark decided that he was going to join a guild that he could be a part of in name only.
So when Mark went to the NSA building to see Salazar the other day, he met with Fiona and Tylor in their hospital room and struck a sensible deal with them. Mark would join their guild, but in exchange, Mark would be getting total freedom from all bureaucratic and superhuman responsibilities that come with being in the guild.
The only responsibility that Mark would have is the occasional mission that required his attention as the strongest member of the guild. But other than that, Mark would be a free agent.
Usually, a deal like his would be frowned upon. no guild master would want their guild member to be so nonchalant about their responsibilities nad they would definitely not want them to only show up occasionally, but not Fiona! Fiona jumped on this opportunity faster than Mark could even get his words out. Fiona knew that it would be a boon to her guild to have Mark as a member.
Not only would the number of missions coming in increase, but the trust that other people have in their guild would go up since they now had a possible S-rank Superhuman in their ranks.
And even if all of these things were not true, Fiona would have still agreed to the offer since both she and Tylor owed their lives to Mark. Without Mark's help, then Fiona had no doubt that she would have died on that island raid. There was no way Fiona could have won against that calamity class after Tyler went down like that.
Mark told Fiona after joining her guild that she should keep the truth under wraps for now since he did not want to be hounded by reporters once more. He wanted to enjoy some free time with Arit before going back into the superhuman world again, so he just wanted everything quiet for some time.
Fiona was not going to say anything about Mark joining her guild until she saw that he was back fighting anima again, so once Fiona noticed that it was Mark the one who fought against the Calamity Class Anima, she knew that he would be fine with her revealing his true affiliations.
Luna didn't know about the deal that Fiona made with Mark, so she was understandably shocked. She looked towards Mark with narrowed eyes and wondered if what Fiona said was the truth. Did he really join the Artemis guild, or was this just some play that they brought up together to stop the other guilds from trying to recruit him?
Or maybe that wasn't the case at all.
A small wave of ice started to gather around Luna's feet as she had a possibility cross her mind. What if Mark was actually under Fiona's control? Luna knew what Fiona's abilities were, and she knew that Fiona could even ensnare those who were one rank higher than her. It was possible that Mark was already under Fiona's control, and he was only joining her guild because she forced him to.
But Mark met Luna's gaze with his own, and Luna seemed to read something in his eyes that told her that what Fiona just said was not a lie, and worse yet, Mark was not under Fiona's control. Mark really joined the Artemis guild on his own. Luna closed her eyes for a moment and sighed as the ice around her feet started to melt away into steam.
"How unfortunate. I am aware that a commitment to a guild is a big deal, and I would never suggest you look down on the commitment that you have made, even though it is to a small guild like the Artemis guild. But I would like you to know that I believe you can do much better. I have a dream that you could be a part of. Something bigger than the both of us.
If you ever wish to become a part of something larger, then please don't hesitate to contact me." story-source-MvLeMpYr
Fiona bit her lip as she felt a surge of anger rising from her chest when she heard Luna call her guild a 'small guild'. Fucking bitch!
Luna turned around to leave without acknowledging anyone else's presence. She didn't care for them since they were not worth remembering. They were just mindless fools that Fiona placed under her control.
But just before she left, Luna stopped and turned to glance at Mark as she spoke.
"Oh yes, before I forget. You probably already know this, but I was not the only one watching you these past few days."
Mark's eyes narrowed in shock. What?