Hey guys. Here's the next chapter. Sorry for taking so long. Review and enjoy.
Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail. The anime & manga are sole property of Hiro Mashima. Please support the official release.
Erza and the mysterious man continue to stare at each other intensely, pondering on whether or not the stranger before them was a threat. But as Titania gazed into his green eyes, she notices something about them. Something... familiar.
"You with them?" The stranger asked, breaking the silence.
"No." Erza replied simply.
"How do I know that?"
"Because I was hired to destroy them. My name is Erza Scarlet. I'm a Mage of the Fairy Tail Guild. Cobra Fang has been reported for numerous crimes within this vicinity so one of the mayors of the local residences hired me to dispose of them. But you seemed to have beaten me to it."
At first he wasn't convinced. But then he noticed the blue guild mark on her left upper arm and how it didn't match Cobra Fang's mark.
"Now..." Erza began, "Tell me why you're here? You don't seem to bear Cobra Fang's mark, so I'm assuming you're not a Dark Mage. At least not a Dark Mage associated with this particular guild."
"Maybe I am a member. You just can't see my mark because I still have my pants on. I can take them off if you want." The stranger replied sarcastically with a smug look on his face.
Before Titania could tell the smug stranger not to screw with her, one of the panicked Dark Mages erupted from the rubble and desperately attempted to flee.
"Water Dragon's Roar!" The stranger roared as he turned around and exhaled a blast of water from his mouth at the fleeing target, blasting the Dark Mage through a tree in the process.
"Dragon's Roar?" Erza thought. "That's a Dragon Slayer's Spell." Erza stared at the mysterious man before her for a moment before realizing who he was.
"So…" Erza began. "I'm correct in assuming that you are the infamous Leviathan, yes? The Independent Mage known for using Water Dragon Slayer Magic and is credited with the destruction of dozens of Dark Guilds."
"Could be." The stranger stated before turning to face the red-haired knight. "What's it to you?"
The two once again locked eyes with each other. As Erza stared into his eyes, she finally realized why they were so familiar. She could tell from his intense glare that they were filled with anger and distrust. Those were the eyes of someone in pain. The same kind of eyes she used to see in the mirror.
"I've heard a lot about you." She began, "So now I can confirm that you're not a threat, at least. However, that still leaves my previous question unanswered: Why are you here?"
Leviathan hesitated before answering. Seeing that no harm could come from this, he replied, "Some of these pricks tried to collect a bounty on me. I wasn't too happy about that. I would've taken it out whoever the hell put the hit on me, but they were pretty good at covering their tracks. So..." he said as he turned and looked at the destroyed building, "I improvised."
"I see. Yes, I'd imagine that through your exploits there's bound to be a number of people who may see you as a threat. Even the Magic Council."
"What?" Leviathan turned back to her, "You think the Magic Council put the hit on me?!"
"No." Erza replied simply, "The Magic Council would never associate with any Dark Guilds. I'm simply stating that they see you as a potential threat. Though your actions in destroying Dark Guilds have benefited many people, engaging in Legal Guild-related missions while unaffiliated with any Guild is still a crime. At this rate, the Magic Council will issue an arrest warrant for you."
"Well, aren't I popular one?" He said jokingly.
He may act like he isn't worried, but Erza could tell otherwise. He knew that not even he could fight the entire Magic Council on his own.
"Tell me..." Erza began, "Why do you fight?"
"Excuse me?"
"Why do you fight? And why do you only fight Dark Guilds? Do you do it just for kicks? Or is it another reason?"
Leviathan clearly disliked her questioning, as the glare on his face became more intense with each question.
"None of your damn business." He growled.
"Just curious." Erza replied calmly, seeing that he clearly has a short-fuse. On a whim, Erza decided make the Independent Mage an offer. "I have a solution for your current predicament with the Council, how would you feel about joining Fairy Tail?"
"Come again?"
"Think about it. If you joined Fairy Tail, you would be recognized as an official Mage by the Magic Council, thus they would feel no need to issue an arrest warrant. Also, you can get paid for completing quests. Which can't hurt your current life-style, right?"
Leviathan pondered for a moment. She was right, being an Independent Mage isn't exactly a paying job. He survives mainly off of fishing and sleeping in caves.
"It's your choice. Just give it some thought. Our guild hall is located in Magnolia Town." Erza then huffed, "Well, I can't say that today has been completely fruitful. Thanks to you, I won't receive payment for the job."
"Why don't you just tell them that you destroyed Cobra Fang?"
"Because that would go against what Fairy Tail stands for. We don't take credit for the accomplishments of others." Erza then turned around and headed back in the direction she came from. "Goodbye Leviathan. It was pleasure to have met you."
"Liar." He thought. "I just ruined your pay day."
A few hours after his encounter with Titania, Leviathan made his way to a local tavern at Hargeon Town. He now sits on a stool at the tavern's bar drinking a glass of ice-water. He'd changed his previous attire and now wears the blue padded vest, which is now worn over a tucked grey t-shirt, navy blue jeans with a black belt with a silver buckle, and black & grey sneakers. The tavern had an average amount of customers, most of them were brute-looking guys having a few beers and laughing their asses off at some jokes.
"It's not even that funny!" Leviathan thought, irritated by the disruption of the drunken idiots loud laughter.
He had actually been in deep thought about Erza's invite for a while. Which was strange because Leviathan doesn't usually give much thought about anybody. Unless they've gotten on his bad side. Then he'd ponder on which form of 'whoop-ass' he should unleash on the stupid punks. He didn't understand why either. It's just, when he looked into Erza's eyes, there was something he noticed about them. Something that felt...familiar.
"Well, isn't this a surprise!" Leviathan's train of thought had been broken by a familiar voice. He turned to the entrance of the tavern to see a tall and massive man with a heavily muscular figure, distinguishing bald head, a pair of oval-shaped black marks just above his black eyes, and a seemingly lack of eyebrows. His clothes mirrored those that were worn by ancient civilizations such as Mayans or Egyptians, although his thick boots resembled Inuit garb; his chest was bare, being only covered by a series of dark belts crossing it diagonally, and around his neck he donned a short mantle, covered in horizontal blue and white stripes and sporting edges decorated by numerous short, yellow strings hanging from it. On his arms were tight-fitting green armbands almost reaching up to his shoulders, seemingly made from the skin of a reptile. Around his waist there was a long loincloth, held up by a simple belt and sporting a motif composed of several arcs, with a single spot in each of their concave part and simple decorations reminiscent of Fleur-de-lis above them. The loincloth was fur-lined, something which matched the design of his boots, almost completely composed of fur.
"Jura." Leviathan said simply.
"It's been a while, Leviathan." Jura replied as he took a seat next to the Independent Mage. The Wizard Saint has met Leviathan on several occasions during his past missions and has become a familiar acquaintance. "How have you been?"
"Spectacular, Rocky." Leviathan replied sarcastically.
"I see your mood hasn't improved."
"What can I say? It's part of my charm. What brings you here anyway?"
"I stopped by here on my way back to Lamia Scale from a job. What about you?"
"Same as you, I guess. Only, I have no guild to go back to."
"I see." Jura replied simply. He's known Leviathan long enough to understand his definition of a job.
"Hey, Jura..." Leviathan asked in a serious tone, "I hear that the Magic Council is pushing to arrest me. Is it true?"
"Hmm..." Jura began, "I can't say for certain. Though I can say that your past exploits have made an impression on the Council. It's safe to assume that they'll eventually see you more as a threat rather than an asset."
"You're a Wizard Saint. Why don't you just put in a good word for me?"
"I have. But being a Wizard Saint doesn't grant me any influence on the Council's decisions. If you don't want the Council to make an enemy out of you, you're going to have to label yourself as an official mage of a legal guild. I've offered you many times to join Lamia Scale, but you've always declined."
"Probably because I'm not too fond of that crazy old bag you guys call 'Master'!" Leviathan shuddered at the unpleasant memory of meeting Lamia Scale's master. So much spinning.
"Regardless..." Jura continued, "You may not feel obligated to answer to the Magic Council, but every decision we make has consequences. No matter how powerful you are, you can't make it in this world by living a life of isolation. You need more comrades and friends."
"Friends die." Leviathan muttered grimly.
"What was that?"
"Nothing."
The two sat in silence for a little until Leviathan finished his drink and made his way toward the exit.
"See ya around, Rocky."
"Take care."
A little boy stands in his home village which is set in a blaze. Alone and scared, he races through his burning village desperately crying out for his mother and father. He then trips and falls down, scraping his knee. He sits up and clutches scraped knee in pain.
"Mommy! Daddy!" He cries out in the inferno but there was no reply. All he heard was the roar of the flames as they consumed all of the wooden houses and buildings. He then looked behind him to see what he'd tripped over and his eyes were met with absolute horror. Laying behind him were the lifeless bodies of his mother and father who were terribly burned.
"No." He began, "Mommy! Daddy! Wake up! WAKE UP! PLEASE WAKE UP!" He cried desperately as he shook them. "NOOOOOOOOOO!"
Behind him, he heard something. He turned around and saw pair of yellow eyes shining through the flames. The eyes fixed on him, he screamed in horror as the monster roared and closed in on him.
Leviathan sat straight up as he jolted awake, breathing heavily and sweating profusely.
"Nightmare." He thought to himself. He then began to breathe easier, feeling his heart rate steadying. "Another nightmare."
He slowly laid his head back down on his rolled up vest he was using as a pillow on the floor of the cave he was currently sleeping in. The cave was surrounded by a green forest. Afraid to go back to sleep, Leviathan rested the back of his hand on top of his still sweaty forehead. He exhaled out of exhaustion as he still recovered from his nightmare. He was sick of the nightmares. They never go away.
He then stood up and walked to the entrance of the cave. Feeling the cool night air dry the sweat of his bare chest, he stared at the stars and was overflown with serenity. He continued to stare at the stars while in deep thought as he recalled the events of the previous day.
"Magnolia Town, huh?"
The next morning, after getting dressed and packing, Leviathan made his way to the city of Magnolia Town. Upon reaching the outskirts, he reached to the top of a hill where he was graced by a view of the entire city. Magnolia possesses a large built-up area, extending over a large, rectangular surface to the shores of Sciliora. Splitting the town vertically and horizontally is a series of large roads. The whole place is western in style, with its buildings being mildly reminiscent of neat Medieval ones. After entering the city, he asked some of the locals in the market places for directions toward the Fairy Tail guild building. He then followed the given directions until he arrived at a pagoda-like building with a large entrance that had the words 'Fairy Tail' above it, topped by a protruding, stylized heart shape and flanked by a pair of carved fairies.
"Guess this is the place." He said to himself.
He then made his way inside the building and was greeted by a scene that left question marks above his head.
"YOU WANNA GO TOUGH GUY?! LET'S GO!" He heard from the most annoying voice he'd ever heard in his life. He traced the loud, obnoxious voice to a lean, muscular young man of average height with a slightly tan skin tone, black eyes, spiky pink hair, and a red mark that matched the symbol on the building on his right shoulder. His outfit consists of a sleeveless, gold trimmed, black waistcoat, often left open and untucked, exposing his bare chest, a gold trimmed, black cloth around his waist that reaches his knees, held by a leather brown belt with an oval-shaped silver buckle, white knee-length trousers with black ribbon ties, a thick black wristband on his left wrist, black open-toed sandals and a white scale-patterned scarf.
The pink haired guy was brawling with another dude about his height with spiky black hair, dark blue eyes, a toned and muscular body, and a matching dark blue stamp on his chest. He wore a necklace, which resembles a sword with a stone in it, a metal bracelet and a chain which is attached to the belt loops on the right side of his pants but no shirt.
"Okay, why isn't he wearing a shirt?" Leviathan thought to himself as watched the brawl, which was kind of destroying the guild hall. The inside was similar to a large lunch hall, and mainly consisted of wood, possessing a parquet floor and a mezzanine held up by wood beams overlooking it. Several long benches and the related tables stretched across its length with a bar managed by a hot chick with white hair and blue eyes at the end.
"That's enough!" The brawl was brought to a sudden, violent stop as a familiar red-haired woman in armor buried the two idiots' heads into the wooden floor. She looked at the entrance and noticed Leviathan standing there with a blank expression and question marks above his head. "Oh? Leviathan." She greeted him. "I see you've decided to come. Are you here to join Fairy Tail?"
"I'm here, aren't I?"
Erza smirked. "Follow me. I'll introduce you to our master."
Leviathan followed Erza to the end of the bar where an extremely short, elderly man sat drinking a pint of alcohol. He has black eyes and is growing bald with only the outer rims of his head containing white hair, and also has a thick white mustache. His attire consisted of a white shirt with a black Fairy Tail stamp in the middle under an orange hoodie, completed with matching orange shorts and an orange and blue striped jester hat.
"Their guild master is a freaking leprechaun?" Leviathan thought to himself.
"Master..." Erza said, getting the old man's attention, "This is the man I told you about."
"Oh..." The master began, "So you're Leviathan. Hm." The master inspected him. "Honestly, I imagined you taller."
"Likewise." Leviathan replied.
The master laughed, "Touche. So you're here to join Fairy Tail, are you? Tell me, what are your reasons for joining our guild?"
The two of them locked eyes with each other for a while. From the look of the old man's eyes, Leviathan got the sense that he was testing him. Normally, he wouldn't be too happy with anyone trying to test him, but there was something about the master that Leviathan felt he could actually trust. A sort of wisdom. So he answered him honestly.
"Call it a whim."
The old man then smiled, "Well, if you're as good as the rumors say, I think you'll make a fine member." He then pulled out a stamper from his hoodie. "But, before you join, answer me this: What's your real name?"
Leviathan hesitated at first. It's been a long time since he's shared his real name with anyone.
"Troy..." He answered, "Troy Mariner."
And with that, Troy lifted his left sleeve as the master stamped a dark blue guild mark on the middle of his left upper arm.
