Chapter title's brought to you by Skeeter Davis.
If you asked him if he was ever going to join an organization tasked with the duty to prevent the inevitable end of mankind several years ago...
...he would've said no.
But now... he had to hold his opinion on the matter.
"So you're telling me that humanity – as a whole – is doomed to extinction?"
If you thought that he's irritated judging from the sound of his voice, then you'd be right. Oh, but don't blame him, he's not the one at fault. Everyone and anyone woken up from their restful sleep at an unreasonable time of the night would naturally feel irritated. Him, however, he's borderline mad. He's literally this close on using a rasengan to launch the person he's talking with sky high.
"Basically, yeah."
His blonde eyebrows twitched at the lackluster reply. The dark bags under his eyes were enough evidence to show his unwillingness to deal with the matter at this time of the night. It's 4:50 in the morning, the sky was still dark outside and he should – by all rights – be in bed and sleeping his ass off.
"Listen, this might seem insensitive and uncharacteristic of me and all..." The blonde haired man who'd been denied of his sleep muttered. "...but couldn't you pick a better time to discuss this? Haven't you heard of business hours, ya' cunt?"
Despite the profanity, the other man didn't show any signs of being offended. And it's more than just a matter of being thick skinned. He knew that his blonde friend didn't curse often, and if he did, it'd be to express genuine irritation or anger. And right now, his friend's irritation and anger were justified.
The two men were seated on the chairs inside the blonde's spacious dining room. The owner of the house prepared two steaming mug of hot cocoa for the both of them but at the moment, only one of them was enjoying the hospitality; namely the guest.
Taking a long swig of the hot beverage, the other man placed his mug back on the table, wiping the chocolate moustache with the sleeve of his expensive three piece suit.
"You'll have to forgive me for the untimely visit, old friend. I've been going through a tight schedule." The man sighed remorsefully, shaking his head. "But such is the life of a Wizard Marshall, I suppose... being one of the few beings who only has a single existence, I don't have multiple versions of myself to rely on."
He's not a Time Lord, after all.
"Hm, understandable." It sucked to admit it, but he's familiar with the hassle of interdimensional travel. "So, what do you want me to do about this 'end of the world' business, huh?"
The Wizard Marshall stopped raising his mug halfway to his mouth, seemingly out of shock. His eyes went wide by a miniscule margin, staring at his blonde friend weirdly.
The blonde, realizing that the old blood sucker was misunderstanding him, clenched his fist. "Of course I'll help stop it, you daft oaf, I'm just asking what do you want me to do with it now. As in right now." He used his pinky finger to pick his ear. "Isn't there an organization set up by one of your people from the Clock Tower dedicated with the sole intent of preventing humanity's extinction?"
"Well, technically it's not directly connected to the Clocktower, but yes."
"Then, what, you want me to join them?" the blonde asked, finally picking up his mug to drink the now warm drink.
"I want you to lead them if possible."
"Hell no." The blonde flatly rejected as soon as he could without missing a beat.
"...which is why I said 'if possible'..." Zelretch sighed, letting air out through his teeth. With both arms on the table, he began massaging his knuckles. "Look, old friend, I know that you're basically retired…"
The other man sitting across of the Kaleidoscope merely raised one of his eyebrows, gesturing Zelretch to not beat around the bush.
"And it might seem weird hearing this coming from me, but this world cannot end just yet. Its decay and potential extinction… it's not natural, hell, I don't think even Gaia had a hand in this."
"Then are you saying that something must've tipped off the flow of events along the way… like a, divergence of events?" Asked the blonde man.
"...yes, that's probably it." Zelretch murmured, with his mug right in front of his mouth.
"So… why haven't they sent any counter forces to deal with the matter?"
Zelretch raised both of his eyebrows, feigning shock. "For such a large scale end result? You might as well end the world now. The thing is, we both know that both Alaya and Gaia will respond with equal force as to who or whatever's threatening the world… and we also know that the term 'collateral damage' isn't anywhere in their books."
At that, the blonde man showed a grimace. Poor Atlantis…
Raising his mug, the blonde took the silence as an opportunity to think by himself. Was humanity's extinction unexpected to him? Hell yes. He's not some kind of omniscient god-like being that can see the future, he's only an omnipotent god-like being that can care less about the future. Why, one might ask…
Well, it's because if it's concerning the future, what's he going to do about it now, huh? Should he fast forward time so that he could stop the problem from happening? Hell no, that'd be too much work. Which was why he always leave any problems happening in the future to the future him.
Letting tomorrow's him deal with tomorrow's bullshit or whatever.
But now that Zelretch had gone and drop all of this on him… he couldn't just ignore and do nothing now could he?
He had to get up from his seat and deal with this shit, now should he?
The bastard.
Letting out a long and frustrated sigh, the blonde pinched the bridge of his nose. Seeing this, Zelretch placed down his now empty mug to listen to what the blonde had to say.
"Listen… does the hag know about this?" the blonde asked through gritted teeth.
"Who? Yakumo?" Zelretch asked, eyebrows moving to suit the tone of his voice.
"Hn." nodded the blonde absentmindedly.
"Honestly, I don't know." Zelretch shrugged his shoulders. "And I can only care less if she does or doesn't."
"The two of you don't get along well, do you?"
The master of the Second Magic said nothing, averting his gaze from his blonde counterpart.
"Anyhow…" The blonde sighed. "I'll consider checking out this resistance. Chaldea, is it?"
Zelretch nodded. "Yup. Ah, and for the record, don't tell them I told you to check them out. I really don't want to deal with the rest of the folks back at the Clocktower questioning me. This world's Clocktower, at least."
The man's answer only aggravated the blonde. "Oh, but it's fine when I'm the one they start suspecting of suspicious behavior, huh?"
Zelretch grunted in response, crossing his arms. "Well, that's only because you're pretty much a ticking bomb in the eyes of the magi community."
"Wha?!" He made the expression of a fish being out of water for several seconds. He could not believe what he was hearing. "Me? A ticking bomb?! Explain to me just how am I a ticking bomb, Zel. Explain that to me ya' vampiric troll."
Smirking at the insult, Zelretch was going to enjoy what he's going to say. Propping his hands on the table, he rested his chin above his knuckles while his lips were in the form of an irritating smirk that only fueled the blonde's ire by the second.
"Ye'r freaking powerful, that's established." Zelretch said.
"And special."
The blonde man didn't like the way Zelretch said the word 'special'.
"I remembered how the common magi responded to your reintegration into society a couple of centuries ago… they even placed a sealing designation on you. A very high one, I might add… even to the point of treating you as the Grail itself."
The blonde kept his silence, letting the other man speak.
"It didn't help when you showed them what you could do. They threatened you and you fought back, hard. Of course, you decimated every magus they sent after you with overwhelming power." Chuckled the man, as if he'd just remembered something amusing.
"They said things about how you're able to make an army consisting of nothing but yourself, control the air and wind, manipulate gravity, cause madness just by a glance of your eyes… all of that you done to them to the point where they had to make a flee on sight command to any magus who are unlucky enough to bump into you." The older looking man snickered. "Might as well treat you like the plague."
"Oi." He took offense to that.
Zelretch continued speaking, much to the blonde's annoyance.
"They tried everything, even went as far as to working together with the Church's Executors because at some point, they started suspecting you of being an Ancestor. This went along for how long?"
"A hundred years or so." shrugged the blonde man.
"Yeah, a whole century!" Zelretch barked a laugh, wiping a tear from his eye. "Even then, several hundred years later, they're still sending people just so that they can learn more about you. Oh, the effort and work you've made them done… I'm envious that I didn't get to have a hand in this at all." The master of Second Magic grinned. "Still, even to this day, you're considered as a huge mystery by the Mage's Association, not only the Clocktower."
"Power and mystery is a bad combination… no one likes those, I'll admit, not even me." Zelretch chuckles while scratching his grey beard. "In any case, we're getting sidetracked here, I'm sure that you'd be a great assistance to the brave men and women who are fighting on the frontlines."
The blonde man scoffed openly, rolling his blue eyes at the exaggeration Zelretch showed. "Don't get all patriotic on me, ya' old troll." He harrumphed on his spot, although it felt like his aggression was toned down just by a little bit.
So, now, someone had just asked him to join the battle for humanity's survival. Should he join?
Honestly, he'd pretty much do things and deal with things his own way, rather than having an entire organization to turn to. It might seem rich hearing it coming from him, as someone who's literally famed for cloning himself for almost anything, but he worked well when alone.
Ugh, even saying that in his head made him feel like a certain dark haired prick.
But things have changed and he had no better choice but to work alone. He had a choice to work with others, but why would he? Between having to deal with different opinions and get into a potential debate with another head and having himself to count on, he'd rather take the latter.
And it's not like he could expect much from people these days… even with magi.
"Look," Zelretch's gruff voice brought him out of his thoughts. "I know you don't like it when you have to deal with the potential death of your future comrades; but-"
"No."
Like a blade that could metaphorically and literally cut through anything, his words stopped Zelretch from continuing his sentence.
"No."
The lights above their heads flicker, going on and off as if they've malfunctioned. The same goes for the two empty mugs on the table, rattling despite the lack of movement around them.
Zelretch kept his mouth shut, his look turned pensive as he observed his blonde friend.
"It's… not like that."
The blonde started speaking.
"You know that death isn't a problem for me…" The blonde muttered with a crisp but shallow tone, sounding as dead as the atmosphere in the dining room. "It's never about death." He shook his head.
"It's what comes with it that I hate."
Humanity is the only creature that sees death in two forms; a means to end all things… and a door to even more problem. Humans leave everything behind when they die.
Their names, their belongings, dreams, loved ones…
They also leave behind emotions.
Zelretch refrained from speaking, mainly out of respect for the blonde. If he said he understood the blonde, he'd be lying. He considered the blonde sitting in front of him to be as much of a mystery as the people from the Mage's Association did, maybe even more, since he'd seen what the man could do.
As in, could really do.
From the things he'd seen the blonde did, only more questions appeared regarding the blonde. Even until now, Zelretch's far from scratching the surface of the mysterious box that was the man sitting in front of him. He could try and put real effort into satiating his curiosity, but what good would that do?
It'd put to rest some questions he had, sure, but that's just about it. Besides, he had always fancy himself a little bit of mystery, kind of like that Sherlock fellow.
An irritated sigh coming from the blonde disrupted Zelretch's train of thoughts, causing him to look at his companion. He's greeted by a glaring blue eyed, whisker faced blonde; great.
"Screw you, you blood sucking troll. You made me think about depressing stuff, ya' cunt."
Yeah, he could also be a real ass when he wanted to.
"But… I guess I'll look into this group you've mentioned a little bit more carefully." The blonde said, scratching the base of his chin. "Just don't blame me if I have to take drastic measures when the Mage's Association eventually decided to do something."
Smiling, the older looking man looked like he had a remedy to the blonde's problem. "I got you covered." Reaching inside his coat inner pocket compartment, pulling out a rectangular paper envelope. He slid the envelope on the table, and the receiver smoothly caught it with his palm.
"That should be able to get the Mage's Association suspicion off of you for the foreseeable future, at least, if you look convincing enough to not cause trouble in the first place… something I've heard you're bad at doing."
"Oh sod off." Scoffed the blonde.
Chuckling, the master of the Second Mafic known to magi began fixing his crooked attire; straightening what creases and folds he could find. Swiftly, he rose from his chair, standing at full height.
"Well, that's about all that I want to talk to you." Even if he did end up 'convincing' the blonde to do something he was reluctant to do initially. "I wish you luck in your future endeavors, old friend. And please, whatever you do, do not enlist Yakumo's help." The Kaleidoscope look stern and serious as he said this.
The blonde man scoffed. "That woman's the last person I want to be in this world," he waved his hand, as if dismissing Zelretch's warning as something outrageous. "I don't want anything to do with her or her Lunarian 'friends' again for that matter."
Sensing the spiteful and downright venomous tone in the blonde's voice, Zelretch sighed. "You really dislike the moonfolks, don't you?"
"I have at least FOUR good reasons why." The blue eyed blonde scoffed aggressively. "Now shoo, go. Go and make someone else's life more miserable or something you old fart."
Chuckling for the last time, Zelretch said his goodbyes. "Well, may we meet again in the near future… should this world survives, and I'm serious about Yakumo, Uzumaki. Don't bring her in on this."
Dismissing the man's warning with a flick of the air in front of him, Naruto was tempted to use Kamui and send the old fart into the dark pocket dimension. But before he could do that or hold on to the idea of doing it, the man was already gone from where he's standing. He felt the fabrics of reality weaving itself back together after Zelretch's use of his teleportation magic had caused it to untangle.
Now all alone in his dining room, Naruto could have peace all to himself.
The blonde haired man ran his fingers through his golden mop of a hair. It's been a while ever since his last haircut… it wouldn't hurt to visit the barber sometime later, he thought.
Scratching his chin, he could feel the sharp prickly sensation of poorly shaven facial hair running down jawline. He shaved earlier this morning, nothing serious, just a quick one with the razor. Again, he needed to do something about it.
Standing up, he picked up the two mugs and dropped them off at the sink. He left them there after a quick rinse of his own hands and proceeding to the living room. Looking around, he frowned at how… empty his house felt.
Although he had gotten used to it, it still felt strange having all of this much space for just one guy. And you couldn't blame him. He lived in a shabby apartment in the slums of his previous home for most of his younger days and when he got into this world, it didn't change that much either.
When was it again… it's been a long time, a very, very long time. One might think someone with a lifespan like his would remember things better than normal people, but no, such was not the case. In fact, it's more like the opposite. He got to see, experience and do so many things that remembering them would be a literal pain in the head.
He could just say that he's old… but the common folks wouldn't believe it if he said that he's older than thirty.
But it's not like he went around introducing himself to people anyway… the kind of life he's living now didn't allow that kind of opportunity. He could still meet people, but it's near impossible to maintain relationship. The fact that he was constantly on the move to avoid bothersome magi also added to it. But moving around wasn't so bad. It's probably how things were like for Jiraiya, a travelling Sage.
Well, he's technically one too now.
This house was one of the many properties he owned in Japan. He also owned more in other countries, at least three, in other parts of the world.
It's located in a nice neighborhood somewhere in Chiba, a quiet little place; that's how things went usually. Making his way upstairs, he entered his room. He should really tidy the room up a bit. Article of clothing were strewn all over the floor and crumpled up paper could be found lingering near the trashcan near the desk.
Walking over to the glass divider which separated his room from the small balcony, he slid open the door and stepped outside. Reaching into his pants' pocket, he grabbed a box of Marlboro cigarettes and proceeded to light one up for himself using a small Katon jutsu.
The taste of nicotine and cigarette smoke invaded his system, but unlike normal people, this wouldn't kill him. His body's regeneration wouldn't allow it… especially with how potent Kurama's chakra was.
"You doing okay, kid?"
Raising his head up slightly, he found himself gazing at the circular white disk on the sky. He could feel himself glaring as he stared at the damn thing.
"...you're pissed off, I can tell."
Taking a deep drag of the cigar in his mouth, he released the smoke to the air around him, dispersing quickly.
"Well, you can't blame me after what I've just heard can you, Kurama?" Sighed the blonde, his free hand which wasn't holding the cigar combed through his blonde locks.
"Hmm… it's been ages ever since we encountered another end of the world scenario, hasn't it? Can't say I like it."
His Bijuu friend paused.
"So, are you going to see that little resistance you were talking about?"
"Obviously." Answered the blonde. "I don't like this as much as you do... and as much as I'm sick of living like this, I don't want to die from some stupid ass prophecy that I had no say in." Nor would he like to see other people die.
"Heh, you're always a sucker for things like this… prophecies and all those nonsense."
Naruto rolled his eyes. He leaned his body forward, resting it on the railings of his balcony. He began to smoke in silence, a moment which was shared by Kurama from within the seal.
"How are the others in there?"
"Feh, I already told you that I was against you materializing their consciousness. Now I'm stuck with eight annoying nuisance that I have to deal with inside the seal."
Well, technically, it's within his body now since the seal was long gone. Through the use of of Rikudo Senjutsu, he found a way to 're-seal' the entire nine Bijuu into him without implementing a kind of imprisonment mechanism. It required him to physically rip their souls and then sealing it into his chakra system, which was why it was only possible using Rikudo Senjutsu; because it's not something that could be done with just Fuinjutsu alone.
Snickering at Kurama's plight, he could imagine the fox shouting at his siblings ordering up to shut up before the topic of their conversation spiral down into those with the most tails was the most powerful or something along those lines.
He did this a long time ago, maybe it was before he decided to rejoin society? He didn't know, but he's sure that it was way before the magi community decided to band up and form an association.
"So, when are we leaving?" asked Kurama. He's probably sick of arguing with his siblings and decided to resume conversation with his host.
Crushing the cigar with his bare hands, he then lit it up on fire, letting the ashen residue fade away into the wind. Taking and releasing a copious amount of air, he opened the glass divider.
"We'll leave as soon as we can… but first, I'll need to make a few phone calls."
And a little bit of shopping wouldn't hurt.
Long gone was the age of shinobi.
In fact, he'd say that they've never even existed at all in this world.
It would be impossible to find a semblance of relic related to his old world; this world was just far too different. It had its own set of governing principles, rules and laws. Yet somehow, he's an exception to them. Of course, he's talking about magecraft.
Magecraft was the modern magi's way of replicating magic or miracles. It's not true magic and it involved a lot of study and dedication in order to practice. In a way, they're similar to the Ninjutsu he's familiar with; only ninjutsu was something which was closer in comparison to its primordial origins; Ninshu.
He never really bothered with magecraft. He prefered sticking to his own guns. And with the kind of arsenal he's rocking, he saw no real need to seriously practice any form of magecraft. He's just familiar enough with the concept. It's been like this for ages and so far, things were hunky dory.
However, he'd like to introduce a little bit of variety here and there. Pretty much the basis of his arsenal was covered by the powers of the Bijuu in him, Senjutsu, Rikudo Senjutsu and Fuinjutsu. And the things he could accomplish with them were seemingly endless.
The smell of foreign oils and ointment filled the air, stenching it in a way that it'd make a gas station public restroom tolerable. The moment he entered the place, he could already feel them invading his lungs, forcing him to clench his nostrils shut with his fingers.
It didn't help that this place barely had any interior lighting. For an atelier of this size, the owner should've had invested in better lighting; if his eyes weren't so used to the dark, he wouldn't have been able to see four meters in front of him.
While he was busy internally complaining about how unaccommodating this establishment was, footsteps could be heard coming from deeper within the building, echoing yet not alarming him.
Instead, Naruto looked annoyed rather than spooked.
"Oi, I told you I'll be coming over today… I've been waiting here for thirty minutes now for Rikudo's sake." Grumbled the blonde man dressed in a formal business attire which consisted of a white buttoned shirt, black slacks, matching shoes and a maroon buttoned vest. He had his black coat folded over his left arm while his right was carrying a brown hardcover leather suitcase.
From within the building, out came a sloppily dressed man who looked like he had just been rudely awaken from his sleep. While that statement might hold some sliver of truth in it, he'd argue otherwise. He was a tall man, several inches taller than the blonde standing impatiently near the entrance to his atelier. The first thing he did when he reached the store section of his atelier was to glare at the blonde man, a gesture that was returned in a similar manner.
"… I know I shouldn't have agreed to meet up early in the morning." Groaned the man who also happened to be the owner of the atelier.
"It's eleven thirty, ya' sloth. It's a surprise that you can still maintain livelihood with how bad your services are."
Sighing, the owner walked toward the counter and activated a small switch underneath. With a flick, the room was lit up in blue light; glowing dimly and softly so that it wouldn't hurt the eyes. Then, the light began to shift in color; going from blue to green and finally orange.
"You set up a new system?" asked Naruto, walking up to the counter and setting down his suitcase there. "To keep the annoying ones away?"
"Yes." replied the owner, his messy hair and tactless yawning made for a pathetic sight for the blonde to see. "You called me late at night, while I was busy setting them up properly, now they can only detect residual mana. So this better be worth my time or else I'm banning you for good this time."
The blonde scoffed, flicking a stray lock of blonde hair.
"You can't afford to ban me, Elias. I'm the only one dumb enough to buy your wares these days." The blonde glanced down briefly, before flicking his sights back to look at the man. " And you don't have to use that form on me, it's not like I haven't seen your ugly mug."
"Hmph."
Elias ran a hand through his chestnut blonde mane of a hair. His face contorting to show displeasure at the fellow blonde's statement, but he resigned to the suggestion anyway. A shift around the space surrounding Elias' head occured, casting forth black miasma which constantly flickered back and forth into existence. Despite the phenomenon occurring right before his very eyes, Naruto was unfazed by the scene, in fact, one could say that he's bored.
The shifting and changing slowly came to a halt, leaving behind something which was much different than what was there initially. Gone was the handsome and rugged face of a blonde haired and pure eyed gentleman, replaced by something which was the exact opposite of that.
Ashen white and cherry red, with horns protruding from his head; Elias looked nothing like the human he was before. With two hircine horns attached to a canine skull, his visage was akin to the stuff from nightmares. It reminded Naruto of those tribal native effigies made out of animal bones and carcass, but Elias was none of those things. He's much more complex. But it's not his story to tell. Not ever.
"So, what do you need?" Nothing changed much about his voice. This time, his jaw did not move along with his speech.
"The usual." replied the whiskered man smoothly in a gruff tone.
Elias stared at the now shorter blonde - due to the after effects of his transformation - wordlessly, before eventually moving to retrieve something from underneath the counter.
"Ya' have it prepared for me, why bother asking?"
Elias did not reply to the question. From the bottom of the counter, he pulled out a worn leather knife bag; commonly found in the possession of butchers and the likes. Undoing the leather straps from their secure metal buckles, Elias unrolled the bag to reveal its content; using almost a third of the countertop.
He met Elias a long time ago, back when the magus was still doing odd jobs for the church. It was something he found strange, seeing as the magi community rarely ever work together with the church; it was much stranger in Elias' case since he was not human. But, he knew his place and did not bother asking questions. Their meetings had been limited only to him purchasing his trinkets from Elias and nothing more.
"Hm… they seem to be different, did you do something to them?" Commented the whiskered blonde while tapping at his chin.
"Just a little bit of improvement." The horned being finally answered after being silent from before. "It should be much safer and stabler to handle, especially with the destructive nature of these things."
"Neat."
Naruto had tinkered with chemistry before, hell, he used a lot of those stuff from the academy's laboratory when he was a kid. But this time, it was something of an entirely different kind.
Inside the thinly secured pockets of the bag were thin and long glass vials. Rubber corks were used to secure its volatile content from spilling, ultimately prevent the air around him from exploding. There were thirty of these vials, all of them showing the curious purple liquid that had taken over the vials' space.
Elias was one of the few mages he knew who was handy when it came to alchemy, although the guy was clearly not one - something the man admitted himself. And he's also one of the FEW mages that wouldn't attack him on sight. The guy was reserved and always kept to himself. Their previous transactions consisted mostly of him doing the talking and Naruto couldn't say he hated that.
They met in a particular coffee shop somewhere in Western Ireland - Athenry if he recalled correctly, but that's not important. Right now, he's in Elia's Atelier which was in the same region, but only a different dimensional plane.
Thank the Log for Kamui…
"If you don't mind me asking… just how are you hoping to use these things?" Elias asked.
This prompted Naruto to look at the tall, talking wendigo-like being. It's the first time the guy showed any curiosity about what he did with the wares he bought from him.
"Honestly, aside from tossing them at my enemies and watch them combust in a fiery explosion? I use them as traps." The whiskered blonde said in a nonchalant manner while shrugging his shoulders.
"You throw them at people?"
"Yup."
"...one of those things have the explosive power equivalent to at least twenty tonnes of TNT and you're telling me you pelt these things on your enemies' face?"
Naruto gave Elias a strange look. One that screamed, 'What, you're not supposed to?'
"...now I know why the church issued a flee on sight order for you." Elias finally sighed. "I can give you a reagent that will… indulge you in your antics if you want."
"Heh, thanks."
With that said, Elias went to retrieve the aforementioned item, lining it up together with the rest of the vials
"So, will this be all?"
Naruto propped his arms on the counter, nodding. "Yeah, this'll be all."
Elias showed no reaction to the blonde's dismissive tone, but he knew that something was up. Sociable he might not be, he was at least observant enough to notice the drop in mood in his normally brash and hard headed customer.
"Something troubling you, Naruto?"
Looking up, Naruto gave Elias a long stare. The blonde sighed, shoulders visibly sagging while his head lowered. "You can say that… but I'm not sure if I can share it all willy-nilly."
"Great men are bound to have greater problems, or so I've heard."
Naruto did not take the statement as a compliment, knowing how subtle and dry Elias' humor could be. Rolling his eyes, Naruto scoffed.
"The sick thing is, it's not only my problem, Elias."
Elias did not say anything to that.
"When it's the end of the world, it's not only one man's dilemma now is it?" said Naruto to Elias hollowly.
Elias brought his gloved hand and perched his elongated jaws upon it. "That… is a concern." The quiet man said. "No wonder I have been seeing less of them nowadays…"
Elias was talking about sprites; or any creatures that were magic in origins. These creatures were sensitive when it came to nature or anything related to nature. But this meant that humanity's eventual demise was something Gaia well aware of.
Elias observed the blonde's expression. He could tell that he was deep in thoughts, but there were hints of pensive wandering in those eyes.
"...god damn it."
"What is it?"
The blonde rolled the bag of vials close, strapping the buckles to secure it from dropping anything. He put on his coat, straightening it to fit his posture. His movements were hasty, even as he went and carry both his suitcase and the bag in his arms.
"If my hunch about this whole upcoming shitstorm is correct, then I might just have to put in a lot more effort into this than I had initially planned."
Elias then began to understand what the blonde was trying to say. He knew of the reclusive nature of the blonde, him being at odds with both the Mages Association and the Church, it's hard to not be. If putting more effort meant exposing himself to both parties, then Elias understood why the blonde was troubled.
"You look too calm for someone who's just found out that the world he's living in is about to end, Elias. What are your thoughts about this?" asked the blue eyed blonde.
"I'm conflicted." responded the magus from behind the counter. "As a being which is both fae and human, I found the fact to be alarming. But as a person… I dislike the idea even more… as if I'm compelled to do something about it."
"So… are you going to?"
"I don't know, will you?"
They ended their conversation in silence, pausing, as the world around them revolved. Naruto was not surprised by Elias' answer. In fact, he could say that he expected it. But he had an answer to Elias' question.
"I will."
If Elias was surprised, he did not show it. His canine skull for a head did a good job at hiding it.
"But even I know I'm not going to get far if I do this alone… but I don't feel like dragging people along with me or having the same thing done to me." sighed the man.
"Hmm… not all of us gets to choose the way we want things to go."
That's probably one of the wisest things he had heard come out of Elias' mouth.
"Well, anyway," hefting his luggage, the blonde looked ready to leave. "I suppose I better get going now… got a plane to catch and all that." He turned on his heels, confirming his leaving. But not before turning his head to say one last thing.
"This may be the last time we ever get to talk, Elias… so I wish you luck in your future endeavor, Child of Thorn." If he had a hat on him, he'd tip it.
With those last words, he walked towards the door, palms grasping the handle of the door.
"Oh, and I guess I'll just take these then. For free."
Just like that, he walked outside, closing the door behind him.
With the blonde out of the area, Elias let out a long sigh.
"You are the most frustrating and infuriating person I have ever known."
Barthomeloi Lorelei considered herself many things.
An exceptional magus, the Vice Director of the Mage's Association and many more. It was an indisputable fact that she was one of the strongest and most prominent figure in the magi community; hell, she's called The Queen of Clocktower London for heaven's sake. This meant that people either respect or fear her and usually it's a healthy combination of both.
Her strict demeanor and hard-boiled nature when it came to authority was absolute, and a lot of magi knew this and respected, and feared, her for this. Naturally, knowing the type of person she was, it wouldn't make much sense for anyone for that matter to just barge into her office in the Clocktower as if it's some sort of interning deposit.
"Ah, but you do know me."
Never in her whole life had ever wanted to wipe a smile out of a person's face before other than that man Zelretch.
The ponytailed Vice Director squeezed her temples with two of her fingers, uncaring whether the action would leave a permanent mark or not. She glared intensely at the blonde sitting on the sofa opposite of her, feeling even more agitated by the second.
If she could, she'd want nothing more but to see that face of his come crashing down to the marble floors of her office. She could try, of course.
"So… what do you want? I'm surprised they let you in." Lorelei made a mental reminder to talk with whoever was in charge with security later. "This section of the Clocktower is off limits to outsiders. I should have you thrown out of here before you even enter my office, Uzumaki."
The man crossed his legs, aggravating her even further, but she'd be damn if she fell for his provocations. Fortunately, years of having to deal with Zelretch gave her a little bit of immunity to this kind of behavior… didn't mean she tolerate it.
"I'm afraid you'll have let it slide this time, Miss Vice Director." He inserted his hand into the pocket compartment of his coat, pulling out a rectangular white slip of envelope. "I'm here on a more… serious note."
The envelope caught on fire while being held within the gaps of his fingers, but Lorelei was not alarmed. As the flame consumed the paper, its ashes and burnt compound began to re-materialize on the table in front of her. Reaching, she picked up the envelope and wasted no time in unsealing it.
"Zelretch… he met you?" asked the Vice Director with her naturally rigid voice.
"Yeah. Two days ago." answered the blonde off handedly. He observed as the woman sitting opposite of him finished reading the letter and the she gave off the impression that she wasn't impressed, much less satisfied, with the contents.
"Look, I know that this might look downright inconceivable… but I have to let you know that my intention is only one thing; and that's to secure a future for this planet."
The rising of eyebrow from Lorelei's part told him that she was still not convinced.
"I don't want to sound ungrateful for the people of Chaldea… but who are they to take matters into their own hands?" Asked the blonde. "Something like the end of the world should be made known to people; not all people, but the right people."
"We did make it known to the 'right people'… as you've crudely pointed out."
Naruto looked taken aback. And he felt offended.
"What? Are you trying to tell me that I am not one of these 'right people'? After all those times of trying to detain me, all those years of playing cat and mouse, you didn't even bother telling me that the world is ending? Just how heartless are you, Miss Vice Director?"
Lorelei sucked in air, and it was the only thing that kept her from inflicting pain to the blonde.
Seeing how aggravated the woman was becoming, the blonde decided to drop his act before she decided that it was finally time to punt him.
"But-"
Lorelei glared straight into the man's eyes.
"-I know that Zelretch's words alone won't be enough to convince you." He brought forth the hardcase suitcase he had with him and placed it on the table in front of her. "So, I brought you a little gift."
The alarms in Lorelei's head went off the moment he placed his suitcase on the table.
Much like Zelretch, she hardly knew the man. But she knew the blonde's antics and behavior from previous encounters of her people. Even from back then. Her own gut was telling her that she should not even think of opening the suitcase, much less accept it. Eyeing the blonde, she began analyzing him for any signs of lies.
The ability came with the job and her own past experience. Being the Vice Director of the Mage's Association, it's a very helpful skill to have; a skill that she had to rely on for a surprising amount of time even until now. Despite her best effort, she could not detect any. She was unsure whether it's a form of buff he had afflicted upon himself that managed to deter her ability to recognize lies or the man was in fact not lying.
In the end, against her own judgement, she reached for the suitcase.
Undoing the metal inline clasp of the suitcase, she slowly raised what now had become the lid of the suitcase open. This man had better not attempt to gift her with money, who does he think she i-
"...t-this is…!"
Smirking, the blonde took pleasure on being able to see the look on the Vice Director's face.
He got her now.
"Yes, it is 'it'." The blonde confirmed in his borderline uninterested tone, though he still showed clear amusement at seeing her acting uncharacteristically.
He traveled a lot, both in the normal sense and the abnormal one. Acquiring the item he had gifted to Lorelei required him to do the latter, since it was not something one could find in this time-plane. Well, this particular item used to exist at some point in this world, but it was confirmed to be both destroyed and lost. Which made acquiring it to be an abnormal pain on the ass for him since he had no clue where to find it.
But, his luck struck gold.
Yes, leave it all to his luck to benefit him now in the future.
During one of his travels to a different time-plane, he found out that the people that used the damn thing still existed, and they were still using it actively. He was intrigued since he didn't get to stumble into such a unique item that often, especially after knowing that it was destroyed in all possible plane of existence.
Unfortunately, the original owner of the thing was dead. Hell, he found the damn thing still within its owner's hands after he got murdered by a vampire, who wasn't all that strong in the first place.
"A-A Combat Cross…! H-How?!"
Ah yes, the thing's name was intimidating enough to make the heretic in him squirm in discomfort.
"How did you obtain such an item?!" demanded the Vice Director, showing an uncharacteristic burst of aggressiveness, a huge contrast to her calm and composed demeanor. "These things were thought to be lost and destroyed… not even the church could replicate the original few…"
"Let's just say that I was lucky enough to stumble upon it." Very lucky.
Her eyes were still glaring at the man, showing him signs of distrust and complete doubt to his answer. She had yet to touch the trinket he had brought for her, fearing that it might be some sort of trick from the man; knowing that he wasn't above such things.
Now getting annoyed at her persistence, Naruto sighed.
"Look, Lorelei, can we just get this over with? My intentions are clear; I only want to help this Chaldea organization with their mission on securing humanity's future. I probably should tell you this earlier, but even Zelretch himself was unsure of what to do; if that means we're not fucked then I don't know what will."
But he couldn't blame her. Oh no he couldn't.
He came here, even if his methods were questionable in the least, expecting to get thrown out even before she would consider talking to him; or maybe even worse and have a group of Enforcers sicced at him. But no, that did not happen. Lorelei was willing to talk to him, despite knowing how much she doubt and distrust him.
"A person like you working together? With mages?" pointed the woman, having recovered from her initial reaction.
"Yes." The blonde returned her question with a glare. "Believe it or not, I used to work with people; lead them even. But I don't think I'll be doing any leading or anything of that nature… unless it's really required to." His eyes softened. "You can consider me a third party or something, hell, even a mercenary would do."
Raising an eyebrow, she found the use of the word to be rather odd. She knew how reclusive the man was. Though a few names came to mind, she was more surprised to see him so willing-
"What do you hope to gain from this, Uzumaki?"
"Wha?" He stared at her, eyes wide and mouth open and the look of disbelief was plastered on his face. "Excuse me?"
Lorelei did not budge. She showed no emotions or any particular shift in her features. "I need to know why one of the most mysterious figure to the Magi community decided that it was time to come out of his hole and help around." She gave him a very cold glare. "It's not of your concern."
"Excuse me?"
"Just answer me you dumb blonde!"
Rather than being overwhelmed by the outburst he chose to ignore it.
And he looked angry.
"Hey, since when have saving the world been a Magi-only thing, huh? What, you think that just because I'm not a magus I can't do that, huh?" The blonde also looked to be at the end of his fuse. "I came here offering help and you're saying that it's not my concern? Not my concern?!"
She was not surprised by the exasperation in his tone, but she was still alarmed. This was the same man famous for sending back most of the Association's Enforcers in a body bag and had been doing so until just recently. She had read the reports and witnessed first hand of what the blonde could do with his unique powers. Powers - she said - not magecraft.
She heard the man audibly seething as he too attempted to reign in his anger. Lorelei straightened her composure too, realizing how heated things were getting.
"Maybe-" he started, taking a deep intake of air before speaking. "-we got off at the wrong foot, Miss Vice Director." He directed his gaze at her, forcing her eyes to meet his.
"If I cannot convince you of my intentions, then at least know that I won't be any threat to you or your association." He firmly said. "However, should you be any threat to me… let's just say that I will no longer hesitate."
He paused.
"This is not a threat on my part, it's a promise from me."
His words sounded convincing, Lorelei wouldn't deny it. She did not doubt his intentions. He took great risks into approaching her directly, even brazen enough to sit opposite of her and hold an argument with her; and that alone was enough to convince her. But she still could not understand his being here.
Why?
"Why does saving the world matter to you, Uzumaki?" Lorelei asked, although not with the same ice cold disposition like before.
The blonde felt his body frozen, becoming rigid; even his own breathing would not allow the most minimal of movement.
"It's true that the survival of the world is not just the concern of the magi community… but why does it concern you? You specifically, someone who had been keeping to himself for so many, many years… what possessed you to suddenly care?"
But her shots did not stop there.
"Do not bother bringing out silly and superficial reasons like doing it for yourself… because if you are, then you would not have bothered seeking out Chaldea. And what you're essentially doing right now, it's more than just trying to convince me to lay off your back."
He still did not answer her.
"You want to save the world, but you don't have a reason as to why." The Vice Director pointed with a vindictive tone. "Or do you honestly think that you are above reason, Uzumaki?"
He did not answer her, but he did allow himself to raise his head; just so that their eyes could meet. She's challenging him and he was not sure whether or not he should comply. What she had said was true; there was no need for him to involve himself with Chaldea if his sole intent was to prevent the upcoming disaster. He could argue that he needed intel or insight regarding the matter and that Chaldea was the only organization that could supply him with such things, but that would be too roundabout; Lorelei was just as straightforward as he was stubborn.
"I…"
Should he tell her? Should he? Did he even have an answer in the first place?
And even if he did have one… would he?
"I don't want people to die."
Lorelei… wasn't expecting that. Her eyebrow creased in genuine confusion, cluelessness and surprise evident on her steely eyes.
"And most importantly… I'm tired."
Again, she was not expecting that answer. She honestly expected him to brush her off and proceed with his initial plan anyway, not like she could do anything if he chose to aid Chaldea anyway… at least not officially she couldn't. Chaldea was no longer the Association's exclusive organization, it was now a UN sanctioned organization with its own body of administrators and beauro; it's strong enough to constitute itself as an entire branch in itself.
"I'm tired of hearing these… prophecies. I'm tired of them." His voice was hollow, almost as if he had lost the concept of hope.
"And I hate not being able to do anything about it."
His eyes, seemingly to have regained a brand new vigor, sparked for a moment. They changed colors, a feat that was definitely unnatural and uncommon. If it was just something like changing the color of his eyes for the sake of changing the color itself, then maybe she would not be so alarmed.
But this man sitting in front of her… he had just activated some sort of Mystic Eyes.
Instinctively, Lorelei shielded her vision quickly with her arm.
"No need for that, I told you I won't threaten you." Murmured the blonde man sitting across the table.
He said that, yet she could not help but feel a little nervous. As much as she was confident in her abilities, this was still a man with the highest form of sealing designation order placed on him and someone who the Church would purposefully avoid.
Even Zelretch himself respected him to a point.
It was unlike any of the Mystic Eyes she had heard or know of. Mismatched as they were, they all but share a similar feature; spirals.
A shape not many could think off from the top of their head yet a symbol that was eternally present in everyday human life and even concepts. The right eye was ghastly purple in color, with its rippling pattern showing prominently and six commas forming a downwards triangle in a symmetrical fashion. While the left one was much more sinister, with it being prominently red in color, with the similar rippling pattern but there were nine commas for each ring, arranged appropriately.
He blinked, and Lorelei watched as he gazed at her with those eyes. The very action of staring itself had become something that caused her to shiver, she could feel something… raw and strange about those eyes of his.
"I am not above reason." He suddenly spoke, shaking Lorelei off from her thoughts. "But I am above inactivity at the face of adversity." He told her.
"You will not stop me from trying to protect the world I love, Lorelei."
His statement rang in her head.
Closing her eyes, Lorelei nodded, almost as if she had accepted his answer. Once she had her moment, she opened them again.
"Love… is it?"
For a moment, it seemed that her tone faltered; losing its typical stoic edge. For a moment, she allowed herself to be… human.
To be herself. Lorelei.
Not a Barthomeloi… but Lorelei.
"Very well. If that is your reason." uttered the woman. "It's not like there is anything we can do to stop you anyway…"
And it's not like she's in a position to say who got to join or not join Chaldea in the first place.
"I will hold a gathering with the Enforcers in regards to your request… but I cannot guarantee a permanent result." The way Lorelei said it made Naruto feel a little bit prickly around the neck. "Some of them have take it upon themselves to claim you, and I acknowledge competitiveness within my ranks."
He felt like he had achieved what he came here for, but after hearing that, his composure fell and his eyes faded to their cerulean color.
"Now that's just mean, Lorelei."
"So, kid… got everything with you?"
He'd argue about being able to sort things out himself, but Kurama's good memory had proved to be useful on several occasions in the past. However, he was confident that he had it all in him today. Besides, there was really no need to worry when he could just open up a pocket dimension and portals and all that.
He thought about his meeting Lorelei the other night and had been reflecting on it ever since then. He was not above reason. Oh no. The problem was, he was unsure himself.
Saving the world… the last time he tried to do that, he failed. And he had to pay the price… they all had to. Him? He was more fortunate, but the thousands of people who fought and bled through those days… they were nothing more than names and memories now; maybe even less, because his Era was long forgotten.
His world was forgotten.
This new one… this new world… he did not want a repeat of what happened. This world still had hope and people willing to fight for its survival. And that was very, very relieving. Faced with extinction, these people chose to fight and stand against the cruel prophecy imposed upon them by fate, how could he not respect that?
"I told you kid, no matter how long you seclude yourself and even if you keep on telling yourself that you won't fight… you'll still have to do it in the end anyways."
Sighing in exasperation, he hated to admit that Kurama's right.
To fight was his life, no matter how much he hated shedding blood, it would always be a part of his life. And he knew that, with time, things would only get tougher… bloodier. The battle would always be tougher, and the stakes would be higher. The odds might seem slimmer… but in return, he, too, would be stronger.
Faster.
Smarter.
Better.
"I know Kurama…" He sighed, shoulders shrugging. "You don't have to rub it all over my face."
He grinned. After a very long time, his azure eyes shined in nostalgic determination.
Walking alone, treading through hazardous blizzard and snow, he stood out amongst the wintery white blanket on which his feet were trudging through. A lone, worn out, red scarf was tied around his neck; shielding the exposed area from the cold. Despite it being the only that separated his skin from the unforgiving cold, he could feel warmth resonating from it.
'Hinata… are you watching me?'
Not expecting an answer, he continued on, marching through the snow dressed in nothing but his regular combination of slacks and long sleeved shirt, as well as a coat and scarf.
"It will be hard, it won't be easy… hell, it'll be harder knowing my reputation with the magi."
"Since when has that stopped you, huh, Naruto?"
A different voice echoed from inside his very being. A familiar voice that brought a smile to his face.
"Gyuki." Acknowledged the blonde. "Are the rest of you there?"
"Hah, we couldn't get out if we want to, Son of Man." Shukaku. "But it's not like we see a reason to do so in the first place."
"No matter what happens, we'll always be here, Naruto-dono." Kokuou.
"Purrr… we've our fair share of rest, haven't we? I think it's the perfect time for a change of scenery." Matatabi.
"...we will be here. We are with you, Chosen of Rikudo." Isobu.
"Be it the Shinigami's belly itself or even the Eight Million Gods' wrath... we won't back down, Naruto." Son Goku.
"I am with Son at this, Naruto. We've been lucky all this time and it won't hurt to count on Lady Luck some more!" Chomei.
"Y'er a tough lad, Naruto. I'm betting ye'r itching for action, hell, we all do inni't right?" Saiken.
"Heh… now the whole gang's here." Kurama chuckled. "But I agree with them too, Naruto. It's been far too long ever since any of us get to stretch our legs… uh… no offense, Saiken."
"None taken, Ku."
"And, not to mention, you're stingy too when it comes to letting us out of here."
"Hah." scoffed Naruto. "And risk having you guys exposed by magi? No thanks."
"Aww, why not? We can just bury them with my sand before they can even run!"
"No, Shukaku." barked the blonde. "And remember the last time I let Saiken out, huh? There's a whole trench in the Pacific to remind us."
"...sorry, I was too… excited."
From that point onwards, his mind became a lounge spot for the beasts that resided within him. He quipped into their conversation every so often, while his feet continued to take him to his destination. It was supposed to be a short hike away from here. He didn't mind the journey, it helped set his mind at ease.
Of course, he used Kamui to teleport himself to Antarctica. What, you think he'd waste money for a once in a few months ticket for an icebreaker ship to take him to Antarctica? Hell no.
He, all by himself, trekked through the steep cliff side and ravines; using only his two hands and feet - with the help of chakra - to make his way towards his destination. For him, it's actually easier done than said. With every step, every stone he passed… his body was being rejuvenated. Sage Mode was not activated, but he could feel his body being empowered by the cold Antarctic wind.
He climbed up a steep cliff, doing so with minor difficulty. Hefting himself up to his feet, Naruto basked underneath the rare ray of sunlight managed to pierce through the cloudy southern skies. Looking up, he shielded his eyes from the opposing wind, and barely able to catch a glimpse of what lies ahead.
"There it is… huh, smart move for them." He murmured with a hint of impression. "You won't exactly run out of space if you make the entire mountain as your base, hidden in plain sight too. Would help deter mages if only the barriers casted around the damn thing weren't so obvious." he griped at the end.
"A formidable defense… but it's nothing compared to the ones we've seen before." Saiken commented.
"Yes, because it's not meant to be defensive in the literal sense." Naruto corrected. "Magi set up barriers to deter trespassers, to warn them of presences and even to flat out make people who stumbled upon them unconscious."
The blonde squinted his eyes. "This one… does the former two. Shouldn't affect us at all." He murmured. "But it wouldn't hurt to be a little cautious. Kurama, let me know if anything bad is gonna happen."
"Heh, on it."
Taking a deep breath of air, he let himself be overcome by the surging flurry of power.
He saw gold.
Golden, heatless, flames combusting right out of his very self. The feeling of the cold was suddenly lost to him, as if he had never felt cold in the first place. There was no heat, yet there was warmth. The flaming golden shroud like aura surrounding his form, covering him in brilliance. His torso, where the coat and shirt were, now bore a spiral like design with unfamiliar Fuin symbols circling the design. There were also the ever so present black lines along the contours of his body, also altering the intensity of his whisker marks; making them similar to three horizontal black lines.
His eyes also changed. They were no longer blue, but orange.
"This should let them know I'm here…"
"You did tell them that you're coming, right?"
"Don't worry, I did." Winked the blonde to no one aside from the ones inside his soul. "I'm not that cruel, Kurama." Then, his eyebrows creased. "Oh, there they are now. Fast response time, I'm impressed."
Over at the distance, three helicopters could be seen flying at the same altitude approaching his location. He stood there with hands akimbo. With how bright he's shining, there's no need for signaling.
Since he was standing on top of a cliff with both ends leading towards a steep fall, there's no way for the helis to land. Which was why once one of them was close enough, they dropped down a ladder. He dispelled his cloak as he climbed; no need to keep these guys on their toes any further.
He was helped inside the helicopter by a person dressed in winter camo military fatigues and an operator's vest and kit. He also wore a ballistic helmet with its internalized communications device active judging from the looks of it.
"Are you Mister Uzumaki?!" shouted the security personnel. He had to, due to the noise that the rotors make.
"Yeah!"
"Welcome aboard, sir! We've been expecting you!"
Naruto smiled in response. 'Oh Lorelei, I know that you're a big softy underneath all that front.'
He got himself settled inside the fuselage, where three other security personnel were present to brief him of the current situation.
"Pilots we are RTB, V.I.P picked up and ready to go."
Naruto could hear the pilot's words from the communications headset given to him by one of the security present.
'Pssh, VIP…'
As the helicopters made their way back to headquarters, Naruto listened in to what the Chaldea staff member had to say.
"It's good that you're not lost sir, but why didn't you just let one of our boys fly you to base from the checkpoint?!" asked the man.
"I'd rather have you folks know it's me directly!" responded Naruto with his voice raised over the sound of helicopter rotors. "Wouldn't want your men down there to make things complicated for me!"
"Oh you did let us know it's you, alright! Command said they felt that energy spike all the way from HQ! And they're inside a mountain!"
Naruto laughed heartily.
So, this story is a replacement for the previous teaser I posted a while back. Don't worry, I intend to continue this; but only if this gets attention.
Now, before I say anything else: I would like to warn all of you that I am going to take a LOT of 'artistic liberties' in this story. Yes, I know that most of you guys don't like that in a story, and yes, I might have just offended the Nasuverse fanboys out there, but I don't care.
I just want to write this story. The idea occurred to me, and I felt the need to write it down. The reason why I bother posting it on FF is because I think it'd be okay to share it to you guys. So if you guys find it uncomfortable that I'm not sticking to canon, be it in Naruto-verse or Nasuverse, I'm just going to apologize and say that what will be, will be.
With that said, hope you guys can get the references I've placed in here and if you don't, don't worry; it probably just means that I've spent a loooot of time on the internet.
With peace,
Rain