Here we go! Another entry for Detours!
Review Response: Dear Dragon Lord Draco, hi! So glad you approve! I have a LOT of head canons about dragons in general, so I couldn't resist adding some of them in (the merged thoughts of Laxus and his inner-dragon was arguably the best part).
Dear snowleopard314, hello there! Happy to hear it! Well, an argument can be made that all magic is ruled by emotions, but it really does seem even more obvious with dragon slayers doesn't it? Because Natsu really is a bit ... silly until something he loves is threatened, then suddenly he's all death and fury.
Dear Some Random Dude, greetings! Happy you enjoyed and, as requested, here is another one-shot! Hope you like this one too!
Dear RedWolf Lover, hey there! Oh, the inner-dragon thing will definitely be making more appearances. Both Laxus and the other Dragon Slayers (because dragons are the best and dragon mentalities are too much fun to play with). Well, his inner-dragon has been there ever since Ivan implanted the lacrima inside him, but Laxus has never had something he personally cared about (beyond general 'part of the guild' care) enough to really tap into its power and, inevitably, its mentality. Glad I conveyed it well though.
Dear EmberFlame03, heya! Happy to hear it! (cackles) I have plans for Ivan's future. Very painful plans...
Dear thatgirl221b, hello! (tips hat) and you're now speechless, my work here is clearly done. Hope you enjoy the next one!
Dear Asuka1920, greetings! Thank you for your patience, hope this update is worth the wait!
Dear Guest, hi! No ... no, Marco is definitely not going to be a Gajeel fan (at least not at first). There will definitely be death glare contests between the Phoenix and the Iron Dragon in the future, especially over Levy.
Dear masimagine, hello there! Glad to hear it, I worked hard on Wren's character! (tips hat) I try. Enjoy the update!
Author's Note: Alrighty then! Since several of you lovely reviewers requested that I show what was going on with the rest of the guild just before and during the events of Chapter 35: True Identity, I briefly diverted from working on the next chapter of AUW to instead post this little one-shot for you all. I hope everyone enjoys it, Makarov is a surprisingly tricky POV to write. Don't worry about the next chapter of AUW, I've almost finished it, so once I do that and edit it, I'll be able to post it. Also, in case some of you don't know yet, I recently posted a My Hero Academia story with some KHR flavoring in it, so if you enjoy MHA, please check it out!
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Vacation Canceled
(Set during Chapter 35: True Identity)
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Vacation had been going well. Better than it usually did even. Everyone had arrived on time, the train had not suffered anything more than interior paint scratches, and Twin Crow Resort's beaches were as lovely as ever —even if the water was far too chilly for Makarov's tastes—. Furthermore, he had called Edward —as fellow old men and fathers, they had agreed to stick to first names outside formal situations— on the way there, and the man had managed to find a cove large enough to dock his ship the Moby Dick, so now Makarov could both enjoy watching the vast majority of his children play and also have backup for when they inevitably got drunk or started fighting.
After five days of snarling, spitting, passive-aggressive behavior, and Laxus scaring everyone half-to-death with his midnight patrols through the resort, the Raijinshū had even settled down enough to enjoy themselves. Though honestly, if he'd known they'd react that badly, Makarov would have let Wren come along and be done with it.
Yes, there had been some inevitable property damage —Haruta nearly flattened the wall between the girls and boys hot springs in her rage after catching Macao and Thatch peaking—, and drunk shenanigans —it was a very good thing Wren was not there that time, or there would have been hell to pay for her siblings' accidental hangovers— but that was all to be expected for any Fairy Tail group activity. Considering how many of them there were in one place, Makarov had honestly been braced for a lot worse.
Which was why he was waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Fairy Tail vacations —especially ones with new members— never went this smoothly. Never. Not in all of Makarov's years as Master —or even before, during Precht's reign— had a vacation with this many new members gone so smoothly. And Makarov knew that the longer it did go smoothly, the more outrageous the incoming bout of Fairy Tail Luck was going to be.
Now they were three and a half days away from the end of the vacation, with no sign of a real bout of Fairy Tail Luck in sight and Makarov was secretly ready to pull his hair out. Or bundle up the youngest of his children and hide them somewhere. Or both.
"You've been looking increasingly paranoid these past few days." The dry observation had Makarov looking up —and up and up— from his drink to Edward, who was stretched out in a beach chair a size and a half too small to be comfortable, watching their children get far too competitive over building sand-castles, "Are you expecting trouble?"
Makarov humphed and tugged at his mustache agitatedly, "Yes. I already explained Fairy Tail Luck to you?"
Edward gave a low rumble of dry amusement, "You did. I wouldn't have believed you, but I have stumbled across more 'adventures' these past months in your guild than I ever did traveling with Rodger, and he actively went looking for trouble."
"And have you and your children ever gone more than a few days without some form of unexpected adventure since joining us? And if you did, was not the adventure greater than the previous ones?"
Edward paused in the middle of taking a sip of his own drink. He rolled Makarov's words over in his head, seemed to poke the implications a few times, then lowered his drink slowly to the small table set up between them, "Ah." A fervent curse hung unspoken between them, held back solely by years of habitual refraining for the sake of impressionable young ears.
Makarov nodded firmly, "Ah."
Edward sat up in his chair and visibly performed a headcount —Makarov didn't bother with it, he had learned long ago how to subconsciously track his children's magic signatures within a certain radius of his person and the beach and resort building were well within his range—, "How bad does it get after this long?"
"With this many of us here? I am expecting a war." Makarov was not joking. He'd been eighteen the last time this many Fairy Tail members were gathered in one place for upward of a week without any significant bouts of Fairy Tail Luck happening every other day. He had thought Master Precht was completely overreacting in setting up defenses and carving extra protection runes into the foundation of the guild building.
And then Magnolia had been invaded by a horde of angry fishmen who had held aspirations of enslaving humanity … or avenging the invention of sushi, it depended on which Fairy you asked after the fact and Makarov had been too busy trying not to get eaten by an anthropomorphic killer whale during the battle to find out for himself.
Either way, Makarov had never mocked Master Precht for getting twitchy after a week of no Fairy Tail Luck ever again.
Edward gave a low, unhappy noise, "Any idea on where or how it will strike?"
Makarov shook his head, "Not really. But since everyone is here…" he paused and thought very long and hard about what he had just said. Because everyone was not here. Not counting Gildarts —who almost never came on guild vacations anyway— Wakaba and little Wren were back in Magnolia, waiting for the guild to return. The only two Fairies in the entire town until the guild loaded up onto the train —or their ship— a few days from now and bustled home, relaxed and invigorated from their peaceful vacation.
Fairy Tail Luck tended to follow Fairies around, not lie in wait for them at certain locations, which was why Makarov had been growing more and more agitated waiting for Fairy Tail Luck to come to them rather than the other way around. But if there were Fairy Tail members unaccounted for in the location that the entirety of the guild would be returning to after so long without any kind of disaster happening…
Makarov swore and leaped off his chair, "Get everyone rounded up, we need to start packing."
Edward heaved himself out of his too-small chair and clapped his hands together to get the attention of the rest of the guild, not questioning what was going through his fellow father's head, just trusting that it was for the good of their shared brood to put up with all of the complaints that came from ending their vacation early. The older Fairy Tail members didn't question Makarov's abrupt cancelation of the vacation, they were well acquainted with how the guild Luck worked and were already too twitchy over the lack of recent catastrophes to complain.
Any doubts Makarov might have had that he was being too paranoid died late that evening when the Raijinshū suddenly became violently crabby and agitated for no apparent reason. Throwing a tantrum that was complete with screaming tiki dolls, menacingly shuffled tarot card decks, random protection runes being carved in the air, several innocent birds being turned into startled statues and Mest trying to pull his hair out in an effort to stay level-headed. To top it all off, his grandson stalked through the building with his teeth bared, lightning and magic aura rolling off of his shoulders and a disturbingly feral growl rumbling in his chest.
None of them could explain why they were acting so strangely all of a sudden. The closest thing to an answer Makarov had gotten was from his half-feral grandchild —he would never have let Ivan give Laxus that lacrima if he'd known how much it could effect the boy's mental state— who had stopped long enough to snarl something that sounded vaguely like Wren's name before he resumed prowling the halls and terrifying the rest of the guild.
Makarov quietly cursed the fact that they had already missed the last train to Magnolia that day and that it was too dark by the time everyone was done packing to maneuver Edward's ship out of its cove and sail there. Fairy Tail Luck was clearly beginning its long overdue activity and Makarov was in the exact wrong place to deal with it. He could only hope that Wakaba would keep Wren from getting in over her head…
Oh, who was he kidding? Wren —so little, yet already far too old and mature and recklessly protective for her own good— obeyed exactly three people in the guild when it came to doing things she didn't want to do and one of those people was a misanthropic forest hermit who never went into town of her own accord while the other two were too far away to do anything about it. The best Wakaba would be able to do was try to keep up when Wren decided to dive into whatever chaos was happening.
Morning did not bring any relief, as Fairy Tail Luck had decided to double back and have a go at them by delaying the train via a random band of rogue Vulcans tearing up a mile's worth of tracks a few miles from their station. Normally, his children would have gleefully trekked out and dealt with the annoying vagrants, but by that point, the Raijinshū's agitation had infected the rest of the guild and none of them were willing to wait for the train tracks to be repaired or the train diverted to the nearest station.
They doubled back to the Moby Dick's cove just in time to pile aboard alongside Edward's half of the brood and set off at top sailing speed for Magnolia. But Luck struck again as the winds which had just yesterday been blowing steadily in Magnolia's direction now blew against their course, forcing young Haruta to artificially bend the air currents in the direction they wanted to go to make any headway. Freed and Levy managed to help speed their progress by each climbing up a mast —without permission and with a frantic phoenix swooping to the rescue the moment they were spotted— and etching runes and letters for "high winds" onto the sails —which nearly led to the masts being blown off from the sheer force of the ensuing wind, but the effort was appreciated—.
It was late morning to early afternoon —after several hours of increasingly tense silence— when Makarov heard Cana shriek halfway across the deck, "Who are you and how do you have that card? That's Wren's card!"
Makarov looked up from his efforts to call up his contacts in Magnolia in time to see Laxus snatch the card Cana had been screaming at from her hand and snarled thunderously at it, "Who are you and what have you done with my sister?"
Makarov exchanged a glance with Edward and hurried over to see what was happening —and save the poor card from being ripped to shreds by the sheer amount of pressure with which Laxus was gripping it—. As they approached, Makarov heard an unfamiliar voice —teenager, young, terrified out of his mind— stammer out from the card, "M-m-my name i-is Dorobo- I m-mean- Doronbo, I-I need t-to speak w-w-with M-master Mak- M-master Maka-, I-I n-n-need-"
Laxus's lips had curled into a snarl —revealing teeth far too fang-like, curse Ivan's lacrima—, and Makarov snatched the card out of his grandson's hands before the boy could do anything stupid. Turning his focus to the card, Makarov spoke in a deceptively pleasant, calm voice, "Yo. This is Master Makarov, may I ask how you got this card, Doronbo-kun?" Because if you hurt Wren to do it…
Whether he heard the unspoken threat or was just already terrified, it took Doronbo several minutes of incoherent stammering and sobbing before Makarov —hiding his growing worry and agitation with years of experience— managed to soothe the boy into a speech-capable state.
"M-my name is Doronbo. My f-friends and I got off the train yesterday. The kid- sorry, sorry, his name is Gray, wanted to join your guild, had his heart set on it for as long as I've known him. Which isn't very long, b-but still… Anyway, we met W-wren-chan while searching for the guild building a-and she showed us around town and told us the rest of the g-guild was out. She was r-really nice-"
"Was?" It was a one-word death threat that came from the throats of an impressively synchronized Raijinshū. Even Freed-kun and Evergreen-chan were now beaming death glares at the card. Makarov sent them an impatient glance which had Edward shush them with the quiet threat of removing them from the conversation if they didn't stay silent.
A frightened "eep" emitted from the card before Doronbo-kun hastened to add, "E-eh, she's o-okay! … M-mostly."
Bickslow opened his mouth, but Laxus slapped a hand over it, glowing yellow eyes watching the card with a predatory focus that Makarov found very disturbing. He set that matter to one side for the moment, "Explain."
"W-well, she took us to lunch, but then Pauz-kun disappeared and Gray ran off to l-look for him and Wren-chan h-helped us search, but we couldn't find him before night f-fell, and we were out of money to s-stay at a hotel, so W-wren-chan invited us to stay at her place for the night. The old man didn't like it, but she got her way, and we were heading for her house w-when… when we were ambushed."
Makarov took a deep breath and threw a stern silencing look at the large crowd that had gathered around the card during Doronbo's story, "Who ambushed you?"
"The old- sorry, Wakaba-san, called them Circus Night, and they didn't correct him. There were three of them. They trapped each of us in some kind of … exploding balloon. Wren-chan tried to fight them, b-but she got caught like the rest of us. T-they blew up Wakaba-san's balloon to knock him out, and were talking about what to do with the rest of us w-when Wren-chan's balloon suddenly exploded-"
Laxus hissed and abruptly spun on his heel, the crowd parted for him in an instant, and Makarov watched as his grandson screamed lightning over the side of the ship. The rest of the Raijinshū looked just as upset. Cana was fiddling with her cards, Mest was holding on tight to the shoulders of the two newest members of Laxus's team, and Bickslow had to be moved to a different area of the ship entirely by Marco because of the volume of his tikis and curses. Doronbo-kun clearly heard the screaming and crack of thunder, because his voice trailed off with fearful squeak until Makarov prompted, "Go on, Doronbo-kun."
"W-well, we thought the worst, but before we could do … something … I don't know what, they blew up our balloons too and we passed out. We're in the hospital now, Gray is still unconscious. But Wren-chan showed up a f-few minutes ago, barely stopped to let the nurses bandage her injuries from the explosion, g-gave me this card and told me to call and explain everything I could and a-ask you to hurry back as soon as you can."
Laxus had returned to listen to the card, eyes narrowed, but seemingly calmer now. Calm enough to be verbally coherent anyway, "Where did Wren go while you were supposed to be calling us?"
Doronbo-kun sounded very quiet as he answered that question. Frightened for a different reason than his previous terror, "…Hunting."
Makarov closed his eyes in despair, allowing Edward to deal with the sudden flood of murmuring while Makarov tried to manage his impending headache. Of course she did. Wren sometimes took Fairy Loyalty far too seriously for her size and age. It was an admirable trait, but when it was that strong in a mere almost-seven-year-old, it could easily prove fatal. A memory of being hissed into stillness by a narrow-eyed little girl after he had made the grievous mistake of ignoring Laxus in favor of the guild on the whole just after the incident with Ivan rose to his mind and Makarov sighed heavily. A mind and a heart far too old and brave for her body, that one. He had no doubt that Circus Night was making a far bigger power play than just three members kidnapping Wakaba, and now Wren was certain to be right in the middle of it.
Though, for all her recklessness, she did have a cunning head on her shoulders, so he had to hope that she would only scout for Circus Night and not actively engage them. But then, she had called it hunting, which implied she intended to fight them. That was a bit reckless, even for her, and he had to wonder what had driven her to such measures when the Raijinshū were with him, safe and sound.
He opened his eyes and addressed the card, "Thank you for calling us, Doronbo-kun. Is there anything else you can tell us about your attackers? Magic, appearance, location? Anything at all would help."
The silence on the other end of the card extended to the point Makarov wondered if the connection had somehow dropped. Then, "One of the guys who ambushed us … it was Pauz-kun. But I don't know why!" The anguish in Doronbo-kun's voice was very evident as he rushed to explain that Pauz-kun was a quiet, gentle-natured boy, that he was their —or more specifically, Gray's— friend and had proven to be loyal and good-hearted before. He rambled about how Pauz-kun had been oddly withdrawn that day, sneaking off little paper animals when he thought no-one was looking, and how Doronbo-kun just couldn't believe that Pauz-kun would attack Fairy Tail willingly.
"He knows that Gray want's to join your guild like crazy! He's Gray's best friend! He wouldn't- He wouldn't…."
There was a muffled noise on the other end that sounded distinctly like a sniffle and Makarov felt a bit of his heart go out to the boy, "How old is Pauz-kun, Doronbo-kun?"
"About nine, I think. He's close to Gray's age, I know that much." And there was probably Wren-chan's final reason for actively hunting Circus Night aside from Wakaba's capture. She was unashamedly the mother hen of the Raijinshū despite her younger age, and her natural protectiveness of a fellow Fairy added to the protective attachment she had no doubt already grown to feel about the three boys she'd encountered would surely drive her to do something on her own rather than wait sensibly for backup.
"Is that everything, Doronbo-kun?"
"Well … I think I figured out a way to track down where Pauz-kun is … but I need Gray to be awake and moving for it to work…" More like the boy didn't want to leave his only remaining friend alone in the hospital, which was understandable. Makarov let the small lie slide just this once in favor of opportunity, "Indeed? Very good, Doronbo-kun. Cana," the girl looked up agitatedly from shuffling her cards, "can you track the location of one of these cards?"
Cana's eyes lit up, eager to do anything to help, "Yes! As long as the channel is open on that side, I can track its position anywhere from several miles to a few feet."
"Very good. Can you mute this side?"
"Sure."
Makarov nodded his thanks, then turned his attention back to the card, "Now, Doronbo-kun, here is what you're going to do. We are already on our way back to Magnolia, we'll be there in just a few hours. So, when Gray-kun wakes up, I want you to track down your friend, but don't be spotted by him or Circus Night. Just find out where they are staying. Take the card you have with you, keep its magic channel open, and stay in that general area of Pauz-kun. We will track the location of the card from this end and be there as soon as we can. But remember, do not try to fight them, just stay hidden until we arrive."
Doronbo-kun hemmed and hawed, "But … but Pauz…"
Makarov softened his tone, "Do this and I give you my word as Fairy Tail's Master that we will not harm your friend. Unless I miss my mark, I know why he's gotten involved in this mess, and it is not his fault. Now, can you do as I ask?"
"…okay. But you'd b-better keep your word."
"I always do."
Deal struck, Makarov had Cana mute their card —no need to get Doronbo-kun caught because of Fairy Tail's ruckus— and track the signal of the card Doronbo-kun had. It took them several more hours of hurried sailing, during which the Raijinshū followed Laxus's lead in settling down from their hysteria into a much more disturbing, predatory calm that had Makarov mentally kicking himself —repeatedly— for letting Ivan even say the words "lacrima enhancement" —because clearly, Laxus's draconic mentality was rubbing off on his team—, before they reached the outskirts of Magnolia.
By that point, Makarov had finally managed to speak with his contacts inside the city and establish that while the entire guild of Circus Night was somewhere within the city limits, no one quite knew where, and they had not seeded the city with any lookouts —either overconfident or understaffed, possibly both considering Circus Night's recent misfortunes—.
Even so, Edward had his children land-dock their ship out of sight of the city and away from prying eyes. The guild split up and slipped into town in groups of threes and fives from different roads, each equipped with one of Cana's —bless that girl's creativity— Calling Cards to stay in touch. The divided numbers ensured that their reentrance would not garner unwarranted attention, but they would be in large enough groups —and in contact with the other groups— to avoid the possibility of being taken without the rest of the guild's notice as Wakaba had.
Of course, since Makarov had the muted original Calling Card in his pocket —set at a different rune channel from the other cards— he could still hear everything that was happening on Doronbo-kun's end. Including Doronbo-kun explaining the situation to his friend, their wild —loud— run through the town in pursuit of a little paper dog —clever boy, manipulating the associative property all magics contained to track down the only paper mage in the area—, and then their plan to smuggle Wakaba out of Circus Night's hideout without waiting for backup.
Makarov had experienced many nerve-wracking things in his life. But being forced to listen helplessly while an almost-seven-year-old, a nine-year-old, and a young teen plotted an assault on a guild that had already proven to have no qualms with nearly murdering children was by far one of the worst to date.
The guild reassembled under Makarov's most skilled un-noticeability illusion a block away from Circus Night's location. Just in time for Makarov to hear Doronbo-kun's and Gray-kun's plan go to Tartaros a la Fairy Tail Luck and reckless concern for a friend. He was glad that he had knew how to control the volume of a Calling Card so that only he could hear it in his pocket, or else the Raijinshū would have no doubt forgone any attempt at stealth then and there in favor of knocking down the door. As it was, the entire guild was very unhappy and it was only Makarov's sheer magic power —and many, many, many years of forced practice, thank you Porlyusica— that kept the guild's magical pressure from being noticed as they all filtered in through the broken door and skulked their way up to the second floor to observe.
Edward remained outside with a frantic Doronbo-kun —nice boy, if incredibly skittish—, blocking the door with his sheer size since not even Makarov's mastered illusion would have kept Circus Night from noticing the wall getting blown in to make room for him. Makarov could see Wren hiding in the rafters, bandaged and so furiously intent on the enemy that she didn't notice them even when Marco and Bickslow climbed up to join her. He could not blame her for her anger though, watching the black-haired boy —Gray-kun, presumably— face off against Circus Night and Kafuchi —how far his friend had fallen, especially heartbreaking in that it had been entirely intentional on his friend's part— on behalf of the battered blond was enough to make his blood boil. Children should never suffer have to like that, never have to face off against an adult in order to defend a friend, a fellow child.
But he didn't interrupt —for now— and signaled his guild to do the same. While they would get a chance at justice for Wakaba —whom Doronbo-kun had reported had been successfully rescued by Wren—, there were rules all magic-wielders adhered to about grudge matches. Namely, not to interfere unless necessary. Gray-kun was fighting for a friend, even though that friend was the ward of an enemy, and on top of all the unspoken rules mages had about interfering with one-on-one fights on behalf of nakama, the instability of that relationship —of having a friend who was trapped between allegiances, pulled two ways— had to be resolved quickly and sincerely or it never would. From experience, Makarov could honestly say that few places forced people to be sincere about their intents and desires and make the only decision they could bear to live with faster than a battlefield. Of course, it could also bring out the worst, most vindictive part of people, as it did with Kafuchi coldly declaring that since Pauz-kun would not obey him anymore, then he would die too.
But that was what comrades were for, and in this —and hopefully in troubles to come, because those boys needed a good home—, Fairy Tail were their allies. So when Kafuchi's face twisted with the threat of death and his magic began to rise, Makarov dispelled the illusion that had kept his guild's fury from being felt. Everyone on the floor below froze and it was fury and sadness —fury for Kafuchi's crimes, sadness at how far the once promising, silly mage had fallen and twisted— in equal measures that kept Makarov's voice soft and deathly calm, "I think that's quite enough."
For a moment, Makarov remembered who Kafuchi had been when they first met, and mourned that he had been unable to keep his once-friend from choosing the paths that led them to this point. Then he bottled up the remorse that might make him hesitate —something that could easily prove fatal for his children and the other innocents involved— and let his fury deepen his voice to a giant's thunder, "You think you can put your hands on my family and get away with it? You think you can try to take my children hostage and WIN AGAINST US, KAFUCHI?"
There was fear in Kafuchi's eyes as he spoke, realization —because Makarov had always been the fiercer of them, the stronger, and they both knew it—, "You-! How did you figure out where we-?"
It was his grandson that answered, something cold and dangerous in his voice as he called down, "Magnolia is our town. We know everything that happens here."
Makarov gave a grim smile of approval at Laxus's words —the boy had known better than to mention Doronbo-kun's involvement and made their guild look even more powerful and secure in the process—, "Naturally. And now, my children," he flung his arms out and gave the command they'd all been waiting impatiently for, "it's time for you to run wild!"
And so, chaos reined.
Makarov watched from above, content to observe his children rampage and unleash vengeance upon the guild that thought it could harm one of their own. He didn't intervene until Kafuchi revealed the true depths of his fall by turning illegal, killing-orientated magic on his own guild and little Wren risked herself to save Pauz-kun while Gray-kun threw himself into battle against a guild master for the sake of a friend. The magic Gray-kun displayed was powerful, his will to succeed against a greater opponent even more so, and Makarov was almost sad that he had to intervene —but not that sad, because the boy was exhausted and hurt and Makarov very much wanted to personally educate Kafuchi about why he shouldn't have hurt Makarov's children—.
But in the end, Gray-kun passed out from his injuries and his magical exhaustion and Makarov stepped into battle in the boy's place. Makarov sent his children away —along with Pauz-kun, Gray-kun, and Doronbo-kun, they did not need to see this— so that he could truly unleash his wrath upon the other guild master who had dared trespass upon Makarov's hometown and try to harm his children. His former friendship with Kafuchi did not stay his wrath, not when there was so much pain and betrayal to make up for. From the blood on Wren's bandages and Wakaba's capture to the beating of a child —that Kafuchi had raised, that Kafuchi should have loved— to the pain of another boy who had almost lost one of the few things he had left in the world. Oh yes, Kafuchi had much to answer for.
And Makarov would ensure that each of those answers would be paid for in full.
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