Maelstrom sighed tiredly as he waited for Makarov to come down from his office. "Who honestly keeps a person waiting for three hours? The cycloptic bastard was one person I could understand why even though I wanted to strangle him with his own mask. I should leave... This is a waste of time. Shouldn't of helped that balloon chested egotistical..." His muttering was cut off as a loud throat clearing sounded in his ear. A blue eye turned and glared at the offending person. Whoever it was was going to get a piece of his mind. The sight of pink hair made him momentarily flash back before a scowl etched itself onto his lips. 'No use to think about the past. Not when everyone thought I should be institutionalized before' he thought bitterly. "What do you want cotton candy for hair?" he asked snappishly.
Before a brawl could erupt Mirajane put herself in the middle of Natsu and Maelstrom. "Master Makarov will see you now" she said with a strained patient tone. Considering she had never drank before last night her head was pounding. Just what the guild master had in mind was beyond her. She was all for telling Maelstrom to get lost but being the administrator of the guild didn't give her the authority to say that, only Master Makarov did. "Keep the meeting brief, the guild master had a busy day" she with a sharp glance.
'I stand corrected. Shes an ungrateful egotistical balloon chested bitch' Maelstrom thought to himself scowling deeper as he walked up to the second floor and followed the sign where a single office door was open. "Must be Makarovs office. I'm almost disappointed he uses Mavis' old War Prep Room as his office" he said to himself. Schooling his expression to a neutral slate he entered the office and closed the door. "Guild Master Makarov."
"Mr. Maelstrom, please have a seat. We have much to discuss" Makarov said as he motioned to a chair before his desk.
"I'll remain standing if its all the same. Your..secretary Ms. Strauss was very clear about me taking too much of your valuable time from your busy day. Are you accepting my offer or telling me to hit the road? I don't care either way, my patience is about to snap since you've kept me waiting for the last three hours without explanation" Maelstrom said with an irritated tone of voice. "Also if its all the same, I'd suggest buying her a leash and muzzle. I've heard being a rabid bitch is contagious and that you generally pt infected animals down to end their misery. By their misery I do mean everyone around them, not the animals."
Makarov scowled at that and steepled his fingers. "I wanted to ask you two questions before I gave you my answer. How do I know I can trust you to not reveal Fairy Tail secrets to other guilds?" he asked laying out the first and most important question.
"Same thing I did with all the other guilds, non-disclosure magic. I couldn't tell you anything about the other guilds if I wanted to as much as you couldn't torture it out of me. Plus wheres the fun in giving the information to the other guilds? It would ruin what makes the Grand Magic Games so very...energizing. The unknown variables, the uncertainty of how truly skilled your opposing mage is... Oh the hunt and the adrenaline of facing the unknown is quite intoxicating & I'm not the only one to think so" Maelsrom said with a slight predatory smirk. "And what is your second question?"
Makarovs brows furrowed at Maelstroms answer. He was right non-disclosure magic prevented willful telling & unwillful extraction. He also had a point about meeting an enemy on an 'even' playing ground where neither knows the true extent of the others abilities; at least he was right in regards in the context of speaking about the Grand Magic Games. "What is this job you were talking about last night and this mysterious employed of yours?" he asked.
"Can't say a word about specifics or who they are. The contract with my employer forbids it" Maelstrom said. "What I can say its just shy of what most guilds call a Decades Quest in terms of outlined difficulty with implications that could affect every corner of Earth Land if my employer is right."
Makarov scowled deeply at that avenue of questioning being cut off with an ominous ending. Just shy of a Decades Quest? Given to a freelancing mercenary of all people? Even with Maelstroms creditenials to back him up it was mind boggling to try and conceive. The last part bugged him too. Just what, if anything, could have enough impact to affect Earth Land as a whole? Just short of Zeref and his demon army resurrecting all at once to conquer Earth Land nothing could be that important. He shook himself mentally deciding that Maelstroms words were probably more his clients words than actual fact. "I only have one true concern and I need to have it assuaged."
Maelstrom leaned forward slightly with a raised eyebrow. "One true concern you say? You make it sound like you don't trust me Makarov" he said with a sarcastic and condescending eyeroll.
Makarov dropped a folder on the top of his desk with the logo for Phantom Lord on the cover. "Explain why when I searched the magic councils records I could not find hide nor hair of a proper mage record for you beyond a picture, your name and the number of jobs you've completed for various guilds. Or why that the bulk of the completed jobs were completed for Phantom Lord. Given their less than pristine reputation it would be beyond remiss of me as the Guild Master to not have an explanation."
"Phantom Lord offered me the most incentive in terms of Jewel. I agree their methods could use a facelift but even you must admit they are incredibly efficient. As for why your precious Magic Council doesn't have a record of me that is incredibly detailed? I always have been and will be til the day I die an independent mage. Under the laws of Earth Lands Magical Government by their respective kingdoms, only mages who are part of registered guilds are required to submit official trackable information. I like my privacy so I work independently for whomever will offer the most Jewel. Now am I being taken up on my offer or not? There are other guilds who are willing to give me my weight a hundred times over in Jewel for a single job let alone offering my services for any length of time. So cut the crap with me, yes or no. Its a simple answer to a simple request and wasting my time with this fishing expedition to sate your desire to uncover and solve a mystery you are centuries too young to decipher is pissing me off."
Makarov was silent for a moment before a 'ouside contractor' guild ID was slid across the desk. "You know the deal with the IDs" he said without prompting.
Maelstrom took it and slipped a tiny amount of magic into the ID. His magic imposed his signature on it, his name and instead of a clearance judged by the potency and control of his magic was a single phrase. Before it even finished forming he knew what it was and forced enough magic into the ID that it melted into non-existence. His eyes darkened as his hands clenched. Even beyond the grave Mavis was the cause of his irritation. If he had let the phrase form completely it would have read out TRAITOR, EXECUTE IMMEDIATELY. "It seems I was wrong Makarov. Seems the fates are against me working with you. I'll see myself out." He turned on heel though he did pause at the door. "I'd make your office home somewhere other than Mavis' War Prep Room if I were you. The demons that haunt this room are... Feisty to say the least." Before Makarov could move from his chair, eyes wide but narrowed as magic charged up in his hands for no doubt some type of restraining spell, he was gone.
Makarov raced to the main hall, eyes darting left and left rapidly, trying to spot hide or hair of Maelstrom. Seeing neither he cursed loudly drawing everyones attention to him. He normally had even more patience than Mira did but hearing an outsider call his office the Firsts War Prep Room, and in her day it was, made him not just very suspicious but on edge. "Attention all! I am offering an automatic no questions asked S-Class promotion to the person who brings the man known as Maelstrom to me. He must be alive. Drag him bound in chains or what have you but he has a lot to answer about for things he should have no knowledge of!"
Down in the guild hall everyones eyes were wide as dinner plates. An automatic promotion to S-Class for the retrieval of the guy that the guild master had been talking to? They wouldn't have to go through the hassle of trying to impress the other S-Class for potential selection of the yearly S-Class promotion test? They weren't just sold on the promise but the guild hall was nearly a ghost town in seconds.
"Master... What happened? Wheres that Maelstrom guy and why did you make such a offer to the guild?" Mirajane asked.
Makarov scowled darkly at the question. "He has knowledge of the guild building no one since the time of the First should have. On top of that, he overloaded the ID I slid to him and the amount of magic melted it into thin air so their was no trace it had ever been made. Whatever he saw on it wasn't something he wanted us to see" he said as the scowl deepened into a grimace.
Mirajane hands fell to her hips as she scowled at Makarov. "I told you last night he was no good!" she said with a haughty sniff before turning away. "Should've listened to me instead of telling me the booze was just going to me head and I didn't know what I was talking about." Walking off she began to pick up the dirty plates and mugs around the guild hall. As long as the idiots were out, though they were all her friends and she considered them like family, she might as well get some cleaning done before they came back to trash it all.
"FAIRY PRISON!"
A giant explosion sounded somewhere close that rocked the guild hall and all of Magnolia Town. If it wasn't for Makarov steadying Mirajane she would've lost balance and gone face first into the pile of shattered ceramic that was once plates. "The lost Fifth Fairy Magic... We need to get that young man back here now and bind his magic as soon as possible. No one and I do mean absolutely no one should know that spell" Makarov growled to himself.
"Master? I don't.." Mirajane sighed seeing that Makarov was no longer there and the guild door was slammed shut behind him. "I hate being right about some people" she said as she shook her head. Kneeling down she began to sweep up the broken plates as she made a mental addition to the weekly shopping trip for the guilds kitchen. "Wait a minute... He said lost Fifth Fairy Magic..Glitter, Law and Sphere are the only ones we have & those are restricted to the guild master only. What is the.." A second explosion rocked the town sending Mirajane ass over tea kettle.
Chittering laughter echoed in the hall as two furry bodies munched away happily on a slice of carrot cake between themselves. Snowball the rabbit, the same rabbit who nearly jumped into Mirajanes cleavage the night before, looked at the dazed form of the white haired bartender/Sorcerers Weekly model and brought a paw to her face like she was trying to hide laughter while a red furred fox rolled its eyes. The foxes tail smacked Snowball on the head lightly and yipped at her making the bunny glare cutely.
"You two are pretty calm for having your owner being chased by nearly every member of this guild below the rank of S-Class and the guild master" Mirajane said glaring at the two animals.
"He can take care of himself. When you have someone who took it upon himself to whip Sabertooth into shape and put them through the paces, HIS paces, and out endure everyone in that guild including its guildmaster & come out like looking like he just finished a mor ing jog, we're not worried."
Mirajanes head snapped around from where it had partially turned and stared at the two animals. She could've sworn that someone answered her question but the two were still munching away on the carrot cake. "You're losing it Mira. Just get on with the busy work and wait for the others to inevitably come back with Maelstrom some kind of tied up."
When the white haire woman was gone from hearing range the fox turned to Snowball and whacked an ear. "We aren't supposed to reveal we can talk until he feels it the right time. Fucking with peoples heads is as fun for me as it is you but we agreed with him not to let on being more than a fox or bunny. Albeit ones who are affectionate with each other" the fox said, the voice distinctly feminine, in a rushed but quiet voice.
"I couldn't help it Ku-chan" Snowball pouted looking at her mate. Just because they agreed with Maelstroms reasoning didn't mean she got bored. When she got bored peoples heads were fucked with big time. "Forgive me?" she asked giving her vulpine mate the biggest pleading look.
Kurama, often referred to as Ku-chan or Ku-koi by Snowball, sighed softly and leaned over nuzzling the bunnies ear. "Of course I do you fluffy love puppy" she said nipping gently at the ear closest to her muzzle. "But we need to save those pitiful mages before Maelstrom decides to kill them for bothering him." The pair finished the carrot cake in record time before disappearing.
Maelstrom ducked another Ice-Make made weapon thrown at him as he yawned. For all the posturing about having some of the best mages in the Fiore guilds he was majorly disappointed. 'Almost makes me miss the old days when real mages were a force to be reckoned with. Just like the guys and gals first recruited into Fairy Tail when me and Mavis first opened it up' he thought intercepting an ice javalin and throwing back with twice the force. The moment it touched the ground the magic exploxed outwards freezing five surround buildings in solid ice along with six or seven Fairy Tail members. "Standards have really slacked haven't they Makarov? Fairy Tail was a home for all mages when it was conceived but at least Mavis had STANDARDS" he said throwing the insult over his shoulder at the mob behind him.
In the mouth of an alley two furry limbs pulled Maelstrom into a shadow. The mob of Fairy Tail mages that passed by seconds later might as well been an elephant stampede spear headed by Makarov himself. Once it settled down and the mages scattered to try and find him more effectively while attemping to 'cut off his escape routes' the two animals and Maelstrom emerged from the shadow.
"Not that I needed the hand but thanks girls" Maelstrom said hefting the two animals up onto his shoulders. The twin cuffs he received to the back of the head made his eyes roll. "Did you you two get to finish your cake before deciding to track me down?"
"Yes dad. Makarov joined the chase after he heard you call out the use of Fairy Prison. The little fledgling fairy Mirajane didn't even know what Fairy magic trumps up the Great Three" Snowball said as she rubbed her head against his cheek.
"Of course she wouldn't know what Fairy Magic trumps Law, Glitter and Sphere. It could power the R-System infinitely if it was used as the power source" Naruto said with a snort. "Sadly if I want to get out of Fiore without being hunted like a Dark Mage we need to break into Fairy Tail and access the underground."
Kurama blinked owlishly at that. "So you just led the majority of said guild on a goose chase after disclosing enough information to warrant the current guild master to chase you with the intent to bind your magic, his words not ours, and you want to break into the guild to access whats under the foundation? Whats under there and don't say I should know. After restarting the universe when you beat the shit out of Kaguya I slept up until they woke us back up in that temple" she said slapping her tail on his back.
"Underneath the foundation of Fairy Tail Mavis and I built a bunker that would house not only the guild members of the time but also the towns people if large scale war broke out. In that time it never did and the only large scale destruction was bun bun on a bad day" Maelstrom said as he applied a glamor spell to change his appearance & hide his two animal companions from sight. "When I was labelled a traitor to the guild I heard not long after Mavis used the Fourth Fairy Magic only she was able to use at the time, Fairies Heart."
Kurama and Snowball shared a grim look.
"Buried in that chamber is the body of Mavis Vermillion, First guild master of Fairy Tail and tbe one to brand me a traitor. Fairy Heart encased her in a physical crystal cocoon of her own magic. Her body is quite literally locked in time, not just because of the curse as a result of her folly during her youth but Fairy Heart essentially puts the person in the crystal in stasis outside of time. They won't age but their mind is perfectly aware of the world around them as long as there is at least one Fairy Tail marked mage."
"So we're freeing your girlfriend who turned her back on you to get her to remove the traitor brand from your file?" Kurama asked.
"Mostly right, she and I never dated though back in the day she hinted at wanting to be romantically involved with me. I'm going to make her remove the traitor brand, I'm giving her a piece of my mind and then we're gone."