Chapter 3

Shura

A cold and eerie wind raced through the deserted streets of academy town – but only for an instant, before all became quiet. Far too quiet. Almost like the calm before the storm.

It was October 29. It's been four months since the Jacob's Ladder incident. Shura remembered well. She's learned to keep events and dates on track.

The night was chilly yet not too cold. The translucent clouds obscured most of the stars and even the moon was waning. It was dark, but not completely unmanageable.

Shura frowned.

"Bloody hell…" she muttered to herself while she stationed herself on the roof of an old museum, half crumbling from neglect.

This mission was bothersome. They always were around the end of All Hallows Eve. She was abruptly interrupted in the middle of the night while she was drinking beer with an 'urgent' request from the Vatican to patrol the streets for any sign of malicious demons. This would not have opposed a problem as she could have snuggled her half-finished beer can along with her. But of course a stupid demon had to actually show himself leaving Shura no option but to pursue and leave her can of beer on the park bench…Damn, what a waste.

Shura listened. No sound.

The target was a hobgoblin, meaning that a nest was probably nearby. She was waiting for a green blob to follow and take her to them.

Before she could say "bloody hell" again, a small creature, the size of a small monkey appeared in the dim light of the waning moon. It sonorously made its way across town, making high pitched grunting noises while Shura eyed him closely like a hawk from above. When he turned around the corner she leaped to the opposite building (a general store) lithely as a cat, to keep tabs on this inconvenient menace.

The goblin scurried quickly towards an old abandoned factory site, no more than two streets away. It entered through an unnoticeable hole on the wall of the building. As Shura got closer she could hear their screeches; wild and ferocious.

Silently, without much ado she sneaked towards the entrance, one large enough for her to get in. She checked the wind. Thankfully it carried her scent away from the beasts.

'Good' she thought.

She let out a silent sigh, calmed her senses and focused on the task ahead of her:

To kill.

And with that, her pink orbs flared and she burst through the wooden wall and got to work. She swung her blade at the nearest target and eliminated two of them before the rest even registered they were under attack. Sensing the immediate danger the Queen let out a deafening scream sending her minions to attack.

Shura smirked.

'Now guys, here's where the fun starts.' She thought.

She stood firm and held her sword with two hands before she incanted: 'Kirikara Sword Technique: Rattle' sending the swarm backwards with a huge shockwave. Not wasting a single moment she leapt at them and struck them down with deadly elegance until they all left lying in bloody heaps. Their deaths were quick and ungraceful. The Queen however was yet to be slain. She remained in the shadows. Furious at the death of her children. Enraged and determined to end their killer. Thirsty for revenge.

Shura stilled. She allowed the heat of the battle to radiate off her. Her breathing calmed. She heard a guttural growl behind her. A sly smile creeped on her face. She spun around and with a single slice the Queen burst open, leaving green goo in its place.

Shura frowned. She was covered in it.

Boy how she hated late October missions… And with a moan she headed back to the park to fetch her beer, shaking the goo off her in the process.

Yukio had to admit that Magnolia was a mesmerising place. It was filled with so much warmth and joy that it almost seemed surreal. People were filled with this abundance of life that Yukio only witnessed a few times in his life and even less frequently since he began his profession. The streets were aligned with flowers of many colours ranging from red to white and everything in between. The houses were running parallel to a channelized canal which was surprisingly crystal clear. Yukio involuntarily smiled as he recognised his reflection in it. The place was warming up to him rather quickly.

"So, em…What does your brother look like?" Enquired Lucy.

Yukio turned towards her, clearing his throat, before he replied "He's slightly smaller than me, about 5'8". Dark, raven coloured hair, bright blue eyes and his usual features include an unbuttoned shirt and a sword slung over his shoulder…"

Yukio gave a short sigh. "And he is a complete idiot."

Lucy couldn't help but to supress a smirk.

"He seems like a fun chap." She concluded.

Yukio nodded slightly before he scowled in concern.

'I wonder if she felt the same if she knew what he was…' he couldn't help thinking.

"We should be there in a few minutes, I don't live that far from the guild." Informed Lucy.

Yukio only nodded.

They walked in comfortable silence through the bustling town, through the market place that was overflowing with beautiful and ripe items. It was then that he heard Lucy shout.

"Gray!"

Yukio focused on the person that her address was directed to and for a heart-stopping moment he thought that he's seen Rin. A tall, shirtless guy with a crucifix hanging on his neck turned to face them. His dark blue eyes immediate began to eye him in a rather unfriendly way but they softened as they shifted onto Lucy. He clearly was not Rin, but looked far too much like him.

He waved back as Lucy and Yukio walked over.

"Hey Gray, wassup?"

"Hey Lucy, who's your friend?"

Yukio noticed a slight change in intonation at the word 'friend'. Well this is starting off a bit rough.

"Yukio Okumara. And you are?" Replied Yukio calmly.

"Gray," he informed as he arched his eyebrow, "Fullbuster."

The exorcist held out his hand to conclude their formal introduction. Gray took it without a second thought. His handshake wasn't bone-crippling but wasn't light either Yukio couldn't help noting. It suggested confidence and served as a warning. After concluding that Yukio smiled at him and surprisingly Gray smirked at him too.

Meanwhile Lucy just smiled at the usual silent-boy-conversation that she's seen a thousand times but never fully understood. Then suddenly she remembered her promise.

"Oh, Gray!" she interrupted.

"What is it?" he asked.

"We need to find Yukio's brother, he's gone missing. Well technically they were separated and we think he may be somewhere around Magnolia. He needs our help. They are on an urgent mission and they are not exactly from here." Explained Lucy

Almost instantly he sensed the gravity of the situation but remained calm. Of course, who wouldn't be worried if they lost a brother no matter how old they were.

"Okay, what does he look like?"

"Well, he bears a striking resemblance to you actually. The same colour of eyes, hair may be smaller in height." He said.

"Got it, well I suppose we should ask flame brain to sniff him out. That would be the quickest way."

"Gray…You're clothes…" Yukio heard Lucy mutter, as to his astonishment, the guy just took his pants off in public like it was nothing.

"Ah Dammit! How did this happen?!"

'Great. Now I'm accompanying a guy with stripping tendencies…' Yukio thought, as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

Then suddenly they heard a scream among the crowd.

"That is so cool! You took down a friggin' dragon all by yourself? What the hell?!" exclaimed Rin his tail swishing back and forth from excitement.

"Yeah, it was no big deal, really. I got help from my uncle though, he is awesome and has really tasty fire…" Replied Natsu, with his forefinger on his chin.

Rin just chuckled at his weird statement.

"And that's nothing, tell him of the time you beat up Sting and Rogue all by yourself!" Piped Happy.

"Yeah, those were fun times. Unfortunately they don't do the Grand Magic Games anymore but it was fun while it lasted."

"Aye sir!" agreed Happy.

"Oh man, oh man, oh man! This sounds so friggin' cool!" Gleamed Rin, "I wish exorcists had annual tournaments and stuff! That would be the coolest!"

Natsu laughed at his enthusiasm. "I'm sure you would ace it! From what you were telling me, you may be the strongest exorcist out there!"

"Hehe, you may be right…Although my brother is much cooler than I am at it though… I may be stronger but he is simply more skilled." Replied Rin, "I suppose he had more practice…"

Natsu furrowed his brows along with Happy.

"Nah. Come on! You beat that Amnion guy to a pulp with just your flaming sword! Like seriously, has any other exorcist done that before?" Asked Natsu.

Rin rubbed his neck bashfully, "No I guess not…"

"There you have it." Said Natsu sending him a huge grin.

"We are nearly there!" Announced Happy.

"Sweet, we are in the actual town of Magnolia now. See that building over there, the really tall one?" Pointed out Natsu as they arrived on the top of the hill, "That's my guild hall, Fairy Tail."

The exorcist just stood there, in awe as the town of Magnolia was revealed to him. Colours, flowers, canals, buildings more magnificent than the ones back at the Vatican…

"Amazing…" he gasped.

"Come on, let's go!" he said, making his way into town.

This wasn't right. He should've been here. She overlooked the fact that the kid probably didn't even know the meaning of the word 'punctual' more less spell it, but this wasn't like him. He should've been here 30 minutes ago.

'Damn hell.'

It was bad enough she had to make time for these sessions out of her free time to train him, which she didn't actually mind, but the fact that he doesn't even show up really ticked her off.

She called him about 60 times already and his cell didn't even ring, which she was used to it since it wasn't the first time he forgot to charge it. That douchebag would probably forget his name if people didn't call it out to him. But what really made her uneasy was the fact that Yukio, the four-eyed maximalist who was always accessible, even if he was at the center of the earth or in outer space, who did not pick up either. His phone was dead also. Which could mean two things. One his phone got damaged, in which case he probably needed back up or two he was in deep shit which may or not be either Rin's or … Mephisto's fault.

She glared at the display.

"Mephisto."

"Those stupid idiots!" She grumbled as her patience ran out. She threw the door open and began to look for answers because something felt fishy.

Short but sweet?

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