Fairy Tail: End of an Era
Chapter 1: An Ominous Wind
Having just completed a job in a village south of the Magic Council's headquarters, the members of Team Natsu were now making their way toward the nearest train station so they could return to Fairy Tail.
"Why couldn't we take a job that was more fun?" Natsu complained.
"Not every job involves fighting, flame brain." Gray retorted. "Besides, the job's done anyway, so quit your damn complaining."
Knowing what was about to happen, Lucy tried to prevent the near-inevitable fight.
"Guys, please calm down. Lets just be happy we got the job done, alright?" But her plea went completely ignored by the two. Hearing his rival's words, Natsu immediately spun around to glare him, fists covered in flames. "What was that, Gray?! You got a problem?!" As if he'd expected this exact reaction, Gray was already right in Natsu's face returning the glare.
"As a matter of fact I do. If you'd just quit complaining about every job that doesn't let you blow something up-"
"That's enough, both of you!" Erza said, cutting Gray off as she stood behind them. Upon hearing her voice, Natsu and Gray's attitude immediately took a dramatic turn in the opposite direction as the two suddenly had awkward smiles on their faces an arm around the other's shoulders.
"W-we weren't fighting! We're getting along just fine, Erza..." They said in unison, and the scarlet-haired mage gave a slight nod.
"That's better. Now keep it that way. And Lucy's right. Lets just be happy everything went well." she said before continuing walking, dragging behind her a cart carrying a mountain of luggage as she went. Happy then flew up right by Natsu's head with a cheery smile.
"Natsu, can we get some fish on the way back?"
"You bet! I'm starving too, so hopefully we'll see a place to eat soon." he said, patting his stomach as he spoke.
"And maybe I could bring a fish back for Carla!" Happy said in an excited tone. "Do you think she'd like it?"
"He doesn't give up, does he?" Lucy said out loud to herself as she walked with the rest of the group.
Almost immediately as they entered the town, the group stopped as distant shouts became audible.
"Hey, stop right there!"
"Get back here, you little brat!"
"Eh...? What's going on?" Lucy asked.
The answer then became clear as a teenage boy with black hair who seemed to be holding something in his right hand came sprinting in their direction, with four angry men in pursuit. As he was about to go past the group of Fairy Tail mages, Erza's hand reached out and grabbed him by the collar, stopping him in his tracks.
"What's going on? Why are they chasing you?" She asked. The boy struggled frantically to free himself from her grasp.
"Let go of me! Those guys are trying to attack me! I have to get away!"
Erza's expression became stern as she turned to face the approaching men, still holding on to the teen's shirt.
"Four grown men attacking a defenseless boy. Despicable. Natsu, take care of it."
"Heh. Way ahead of you, Erza." Natsu said with a grin before punching his fists together, conjuring a fiery magic circle in front of him. He then leapt into the air as a stream of fire was produced from each of his arms.
"Fire Dragon's Wing Attack!" he shouted, then swung his arms forward, launching the flames directly at the approaching men. By now the teen, still being held in place by Erza, had stopped trying to escape and watched wide-eyed as Natsu's attack resulted in a large explosion, leaving each of the pursuers unconscious in the street, while also damaging several of the surrounding buildings.
"I think that might've been a little overkill..." Lucy said, a large sweat drop rolling down her head as she saw the damage Natsu caused, but then turned her attention to the teen. "So who were those guys and why were they after you, anyway?"
Blinking as the attention was brought back to him, the teen again began to pry himself free of Erza's grip.
"It doesn't matter! Just Let me go!"
Happy then noticed something in the boy's hand. Curiosity getting the best of the Exceed, he flew in and grabbed the object and looked at it curiously. It was a black stone about the size of a child's fist.
"Hey! Give that back!" The teen shouted in protest.
"Look! I found a pretty rock!" Happy said, waving it in the air for the rest to see.
"They were chasing you over a rock? That seems strange..." Gray said, raising an eyebrow.
"I have a feeling there's a little more to it than that." Erza replied before letting go of the boy's shirt and looking at him again. "What's your name?"
Flashing a cocky grin, the boy pointed a thumb at himself as he answered. "I'm Mason Calvot, the greatest mage of all time and part of the Shaman's Haven guild!" But right when he finished his introduction, he suddenly sneezed. Feeling he'd killed any feeling he'd tried to create with his statement, he blushed in embarrassment. "St-stop looking at me like that! And give that back, you stupid cat! It's mine!" he said, pointing to the stone Happy was holding.
"Shaman's Haven? Haven't heard of it." Gray said
"Well duh!" Mason retorted. "We're a new guild, but one day I'll make it the top guild in Fiore! Now give me back that stone!"
"Why is it so important to you?" Lucy asked, to which Erza nodded.
"Yes, I'm rather curious about that too. Of course we'll return it to you. I just wish to know why those men went through so much trouble to chase you over it."
"Maybe it's a really rare gem worth lots of money!" Natsu said, clearly excited by the possibility, and Happy seemed interested in the idea too.
"Natsu! How many fish do you think we could buy with it?" He asked.
"Oi, aren't you two getting a little carried away?" Gray asked, unaware that at some point during the conversation, he'd stripped off his shirt.
"Ha! Says the guy who likes running around half-naked!" Natsu replied.
"Huh?" Gray looked down, and jolted in surprise when he realized what had happened, then quickly put his shirt back on. Noticing Natsu was now laughing childishly at him, Gray grunted in frustration. "It's not funny, Natsu! So quit laughing or I'll beat your ugly face in!"
"Who're you calling ugly?!" Natsu quickly retorted. It was very apparent another fight between the two was close to breaking out, and Lucy rushed over to try to calm them down.
"Guys, come on! We've already caused enough damage here without you two fighting each other!"
But once again her voice went ignored as the two continued to bicker back and forth. Finally, Erza had had enough. Gritting her teeth in frustration, she suddenly launched forward at the two.
"THAT'S ENOUGH!" her voice boomed out as she slammed a fist into each of their heads, rendering both of them unconscious. She then let out a sigh as she calmed down, then tried to return to the situation at hand.
"At any rate- Where is he?" Erza asked, suddenly noticing Mason was nowhere to be seen. Happy's eyes then widened when he realized the stone was no longer in his hands."
"Eh?! The rock! It disappeared! But what about my fish?!"
Having woken up just soon enough to grasp the situation, Natsu took off in a sprint out of the town, following Mason's scent.
"That damn kid! Leaving before we were finished talking to him!"
"Natsu, wait!" Lucy called out, but Erza as well as Gray, who had just regained consciousness as well, were already sprinting after the dragon slayer.
"There's no stopping him, Lucy! Lets just follow him for now!" Erza called back, and Lucy sighed before reluctantly following behind, with Happy flying alongside them.
Several minutes later, Natsu had finally started to catch up to Mason, as the fleeing teen was now in sight.
"Oi! Get back here!" Natsu shouted. Mason started to panic as he ran, but an idea came to his head. While he continued to pursue, Natsu's belt suddenly came undone, and his pants fell around his ankles, causing him to trip and fall face first into the ground. Mason then stopped for a brief moment and stuck his tongue out at the dragon slayer in a childlike fashion.
"Ha! That's what happens when you mess with the greatest mage of all time!"
"Wait, you did this with your magic?! Why you little...!" As Natsu stumbled over himself in his attempt to quickly pull his pants back up and continue running, Mason had again increased the gap between them, and his destination now became apparent. In the distance, right along the base of a mountain range up ahead, was a building that resembled an Oriental-style manor, with a few steps leading up to a wooden floor that ran along the outside of the building. Running up those steps, Mason quickly slid the front door open and darted inside before closing the door behind him. By this point Natsu's pursuit was then suddenly stopped as Erza, who'd finally caught up to him along with Gray, Lucy, and Happy, reached out and grabbed his shoulder.
"Wait just a moment, Natsu." She said.
"Huh?! But he went in there!" Natsu replied, pointing to the building. "Lets just go in there and find out why he ran off in the first place!"
"That's fine. But lets all go together, and let me handle the talking. We can't just barge into a place like this and cause chaos." Erza said, before pointing to a sign on the roof that read, "Shaman's Haven."
"So this place is his guild, then..." Lucy said, thinking aloud to herself.
"Precisely." Erza replied with a nod. "This is Fairy Tail's first meeting with this guild, so we should try not to leave a bad impression. That means you can't go in there and start a fight.
"Fine, I won't do anything." Natsu said reluctantly.
"Good. Lets go then." Erza nodded again before leading the way as the group walked toward Shaman's Haven together.
Meanwhile, after Mason had closed the door of the guild behind him, he sighed in relief, then chuckled and grinned to himself as he looked at the stone in his hand. He started to turn around to head to his room, but stopped, startled as a tall man with long dark hair, wearing a dark kimono, a white scarf around his neck, and a straw hat on his head stood there with his arms folded over his chest, looking down at the teen.
"Mind tellin' me what happened?" the man asked, to which Mason simply gave an awkward chuckle and scratched the back of his head.
"I-I don't know what you're talking about?" he said, though it was quite clear he knew exactly he meant.
"Don't play dumb. I know you took an S-Class job from the request board." the man replied, before noticing the stone in Mason's hand. "I bet it had something to do with that, didn't it? Give it to me." He held out his hand, waiting for Mason to hand it over.
"Fine, fine! Jeez, I don't see what the big deal is." Mason replied before dropping the stone into his hand. But at the exact moment the stone made contact with the man's hand, a sudden gust of wind came through an open window in the next room, blowing out a couple candles that had been lit near where he was standing. A simple coincidence in timing, most would say, but not him. There was an eerie, ominous feeling that came over him as he held the stone, wondering just what it was exactly.
"Mason, where did you-" he was interrupted by a knock on the door. "Alright... Go to your room for a bit. I'll talk to you again in just a little while." he said, and Mason ran off to his room.
The tall man then slid the stone into his pocket and gave a slight grin as he went and slid the door open, revealing the Fairy Tail mages that had followed Mason.
"Well hello there. Who might you all be?"
Erza gave a polite bow before speaking.
"I apologize for the intrusion. I am Erza Scarlet, and these are my teammates: Natsu, Lucy, Gray, and Happy. We are mages from Fairy Tail."
"Ah, 'the' Fairy Tail, huh?" he replied with a chuckle, before tipping his hat to the mages. "I'm Satoshi Kazeyama, guild master here at Shaman's Haven. To what may I ask do I owe the pleasure of a visit from members of a guild such as yours?"
"We encountered one of your mages earlier. Mason, I believe. Again, I hate to intrude, but would you mind if we came inside and discussed the mater?" Erza asked.
"Not with that dragon slayer with you ya can't." Satoshi replied bluntly. The comment seemed to catch all of them off guard.
"I beg your pardon?" Erza said.
"I didn't stutter." Satoshi replied, before nodding a head toward Natsu. "I don't want him comin' in my guild."
"Oi! How did you even know I was a dragon slayer?" Natsu asked.
"Because you stink like one." Satoshi retorted.
"Oh yeah?! Well you smell like a... wait... Why do you smell like-"
"Enough, Natsu. I'll handle it." Erza interrupted, before turning her attention back to Satoshi. "With all due respect, he's with us. If he isn't allowed in, we'll all just stay out here."
"Have it your way." Satoshi said with a shrug. "So what's the problem with Mason?"
"He was being chased by several men a little while ago. We helped him, but when we tried to talk to him to figure out the details of the situation, he ran off before we could get any real answers. All we know is it had something to do with a black stone." She explained.
Still unsure of what to think about the stone, Satoshi wasn't certain what he should or shouldn't say about it, especially to people he didn't know well enough to know if they could be trusted. So he decided to make something up to make the incident seem as trivial as possible. "Ah, that. It's just some kinda rare gem or somethin. He took a job request that asked him to find it and return it to its owner. The guys chasin' him were probably after it too."
"Aha! I knew it!" Natsu exclaimed, though Gray wasn't quite convinced by the lie just yet.
"Wait, if it was his job to return it to someone, why'd he bring it back here?" he asked.
"Well, I can't read his mind or anything, but I'd guess he got startled by all the chaos form earlier and decided to come back here until everything calmed down." Satoshi answered.
"I guess that makes sense..." Lucy said.
Again, Erza gave a polite bow to the guild master.
"Thank you for your time. I apologize for any inconvenience we might've been."
"No problem." He replied. "And feel free to visit any time. But avoid bringin' 'him' if you can help it." he said, again motioning to Natsu. Knowing the others were all likely as frustrated as she was from hearing him speak about their guildmate like that, Erza quickly led the way away from the guild, encouraging the others to follow behind before any of them did something they'd regret. Once they were a decent distance away from Shaman's Haven, Gray was the first to speak.
"Tch. What an asshole. Telling us we couldn't go in just because we had a dragon slayer with us."
"Yeah, that was strange." Lucy added. "I wonder what his problem with dragon slayers is..." Remembering something else from the encounter moments ago, Erza then turned and looked at Natsu.
"Natsu, I stopped you from finishing that statement earlier to avoid being rude. But it seemed like you noticed something unusual about that man's scent. What was it?"
"It was weird. And maybe I was just imagining it, but... That guy, he smelled like..."
"Like what? Spit it out, Natsu." Gray said impatiently.
"Gray, that's enough." Erza said before turning her attention back to Natsu. "What did he smell like." As if he still didn't entirely believe it, Natsu hesitated as he spoke.
"His scent was just like...a dragon's..."
Everyone's eyes immediately went wide in shock.
"Oi, are you saying he might be a dragon? That's ridiculous!" Gray said.
"He was just an ordinary human though, right?" Lucy asked.
"He didn't look like a dragon to me..." Happy chimed in. Natsu just scratched his head.
"I don't really get it either. And maybe it was just a coincidence or something..."
Erza glanced back toward Shaman's Haven, a look of suspicion covering her face.
"I don't like this. Something tells me there's much more to this situation than we know. It just doesn't feel right..."
"So, what do we do?" Lucy asked, and Erza thought for a moment before answering.
"There's nothing we can do at the moment. For now, the best thing would be to return to Fairy Tail. Maybe we can tell master about all this and get his thoughts."
"Sounds like a plan to me." Gray said. "Lets get going."
Erza nodded in agreement, and the group began making its way back to Fairy Tail.
Back in Shaman's Haven, Satoshi had closed the door again once the Fairy Tail mages had left.
"Mason, I know you're still there. Come on out." he said, and the teen pouted as he came around from the corner of the next room where he'd been hiding.
"Now Mason, I ain't mad ya took that S-Class job. But I do need ya to tell me everything about it, including everything ya know about this stone, and why the client wanted you to get it for him." he said, pulling the stone back out from his pocket.
Mason sighed, then began to explain.
"Actually, the job was to destroy the stone, but I don't know why..."
"Destroy it?" Satoshi asked curiously. "So why didn't you?"
"I tried! I tried hitting it against rocks, trees, buildings, I tried biting it, stomping on it, throwing it, but nothing worked! The stupid thing wouldn't break."
Satoshi listened intently, taking in everything the young mage said.
"I see. And how'd you get it?"
"Well, a dark guild had it, so I snuck in and stole it..." Mason then grinned and began to "exaggerate" the details. "Once I found it, dark mages started attacking me from every direction! But I wasn't scared! I beat up ten- no, TWENTY without even using any magic! And then, I-" Mason continued to go on and on telling his fake story of how he'd defeated this dark guild, and Satoshi tuned him out as he contemplated the parts of the story that he knew to be true.
"So he stole it from a dark guild, and was running away from them when he ran into those Fairy Tail mages." he thought to himself, then held up a hand to motion Mason to stop his story. "Alright, I think I get it. Thank you, Mason. Do you know what darg guild it was exactly?" Mason just shook his head.
"No. I heard one of them say the guild used to be a lot bigger, though." he said. Satoshi nodded before holding the stone up and observed it again, when an idea came into his head. Curious as to what the result would be, Satoshi channeled his magic energy into the stone. As he did this, three parallel lines of strange characters appeared along the surface of the stone.
"What the hell...?" he said. Now just as curious as Satoshi, Mason tried to get a good look at it too.
"What is that?" he asked.
"Runes, I think, but..." he started to answer, before some other thoughts began to run through his mind, distracting him.
"Mason, I need you to do me a favor..."
"Really? What is it?" he asked.
"There's someone I need to go see. While I'm gone, gather the other members, and spread the word to every guild in Fiore you can that I'm callin' an emergency guild master's meeting to be held in Crocus next week."
"Sure! But why do you need to have that meeting?" Mason asked curiously.
"Well, that's what I'm gonna find out. Now get goin. I'll try to be back as soon as I can." the guild master replied, and Mason then ran off to find the other members.
Putting the stone back into his pocket, Satoshi then went to his room and grabbed a katana, putting it in the side of his belt, as well as a staff, which he carried in his left hand. He then exited the guild and took several steps out into the open before stopping. A moment later, a pair of large, light gray, scaly wings then sprouted from his back. With a quick flap of the wings, the master of Shaman's Haven took flight, soon soaring through the sky as he moved to his destination.