Chapter 3
Two Minds
Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, only my own OC's and Ideas
Frea and Chase headed away through the trees silently, growing farther and farther away from the town as they passed under the dappled shadows. Frea stopped in the center of a small clearing and fixed him with a neutral stare.
She had been waiting for him at the edge of the city, and he had made his way back this morning, two days after she had decided to look for answers in the Guild's library.
Despite the promise she had made herself to speak with him alone as soon as she could, it hadn't worked out very well. The Guild being swamped with as many requests as it was since the GMG, everyone had been heading out on as many jobs as they could possibly take.
Chase had been pulled along on a job by Laki, Sam and Cana, the poor guy not having the heart to tell the three of them no, when they had asked him to come along. She didn't blame him for it, she herself didn't always have the heart to tell her Guild-Mates no, especially when they were as happy and as excited as they have been for the last two weeks since they returned to Magnolia.
Even she hadn't had much luck sticking to her plan of speaking with him, she had gone on more than a few jobs herself and been more than busy. This was the only time she had actually taken to get away from all of it, and get him alone so they could talk about the Energy Shifts.
"So Teach, do you have any idea as to what in the hell is going on with the World's Energy?" He asked, looking unusually serious for someone who was almost always smiling.
Frea shook her head a little, "No, I don't." She admitted. She tapped a finger to her chin and glanced away from him. "Well... Its not being caused by someone... No unfamiliar Magic shows up when the Shifts happen."
Chase nodded a bit, "I noticed that to." He murmured. "But if it's not being caused by someone, why is it happening?"
Frea sighed and sweatdropped a bit, "I was thinking it might be an after-effect of the Eclipse Gate, and Ultear's Powers..." She suggested and he nodded a little.
"Yeah, I thought about that to." He told her, "But it doesn't make a lot of sense, the Energy did Shift before any of the Major events involving Eclipse or Ultear happened." He pointed out and Frea nodded.
He was right of course, the possibility of the Shifts being chased by Eclipse or Ultear were almost non-existent. The Shifts had started before any of it actually happened, so they had to be ruled out as a possible cause.
"With that in mind, your Spell would have to be ruled out too." Chase continued and she blinked, heart quickening a little. Her mind immediately flashed to the Celestial
Energy Spell she had used on Solana.
But Chase didn't know about that, did he? At least, he hadn't made any indication that he had...
"Messing with the Land's Energy like you did could set off an unexpected effect." He went on, and she let out a silent sigh, when she realized he had been talking about the Aid Spell. Her eyes fell closed for a moment, so she missed the skeptical look Chase gave her.
He had noticed the sudden tenseness when he had mentioned a Spell, he could feel her nerves rise, and her emotions changing. He had the feeling she wasn't telling him everything, and he was momentarily pushed back to his suspicions.
The Magic Anomaly, it really had felt like Frea's Magic, and he was quite sure it was hers. His only hesitation with it thus far, was the idea that he had a hard time believing Frea could have set something so powerful, and so huge, off.
The amount of power and control that would have been needed to set something as large and magnificent as that Anomaly, off, would have been massive, extensive. In all of Fiore, he didn't think there were any Mage's with that kind of power.
But after the fight with the Dragons... He was getting to the point where he could believe it could have been her. But he pushed it away for now, they had other things to worry about.
"Manipulating the Land's Energy as you did, well, we just didn't know what doing something like that would do." He went on, "But it couldn't be the reason for the Shifts." He concluded, and Frea nodded.
"I suppose that's true..." Frea murmured. She hadn't considered at the time, what manipulating the Land's Energy might do. She hadn't time to think really, she just acted.
Though, back on Tenrou that Mage named Asuma seemed to use the Land's Energy to his liking without any back lashes, other then her own intervention.
"You tried asking Jynx about it?" Chase asked and Frea blinked at the question. She sighed and sweatdropped, oh yes, she had considered asking Jynx, but...
"I don't know where she is..." She mumbled. "Nearest I can tell, the only time she's been around here is when she was talking with Master Makarov... And Mavis." She told him.
It was true, the only time she had ever even sensed Jynx's presence around Magnolia, was in the Guild Hall where she was sure the ghost was upstairs and talking with Master and the other resident Fairy Tail ghost, Mavis.
At this point, she really sort of wanted to know just what those three were doing, but she didn't feel as if it were her place to ask, even though she really wanted to know.
"Alright..." Chase murmured, looking a little intrigued by the idea of Master, Mavis and Jynx all in one room, talking. He seemed just as curious as to what they might be discussing, but he wasn't going to pry. He glanced up at the leaves of the trees. "Then we really don't have an answer." He mumbled. "Nothing makes sense. There's no one causing it, we know that for sure... So what else could it be...?"
They fell into silence for a moment as they both thought it over. They weren't left with a lot of explanations, so they had no idea of what it could be. There was no reasonable explanation she could think of that would be causing these Shifts to happen. No one was causing it as far as they could tell, there wasn't anything major that happened before the Eclipse incident... At least nothing she could think of that might have affected the World's Energy anyway.
Even the Spell she used on Solana, that wouldn't have affected the world in any way. It would have only altered or changed Solana herself, and perhaps the Celestial Spirit World in a small way.
Frea blinked a few times and Chase looked back at her, from where his gaze had drifted away to look at the ground. "Here's what we're going to do," She told him and he straightened up. "Next time a Shift happens, we're going to use our Magic together, and cast out our senses as far as we can go. Alright?"
Chase nodded, still looking quite serious as he stuck his hands in his pockets. "Got it."
Moon POV
Moon stared down at the wooden table she was sitting on, eyes narrowed and silent. It seemed she was deaf to the noise going through the hall around her as she remained in deep thought.
She couldn't get it out of her head, it seemed impossible.
Carla was right, the figure in her dream, it looked a whole hell of a lot like Frea. But she hadn't the slightest clue what the dream had meant. It put her on edge, thinking something bad was about to happen, and that the river of blood, may be meant for Frea. She didn't want anything to happen to Frea, let alone having her get hurt so soon after the Dragon Fight.
That's why, she'd became increasingly agitated this morning when she woke up and Frea was gone. She only took comfort in the fact that she knew Frea was plenty capable of taking care of herself, but she was still worried none the less, not even Frea could go up against anything.
But, Carla seemed a little more relaxed now that she had shared her dream with someone else, and Moon cast her friend a small smile from where she could see Carla giggling away with Wendy. She was happy Carla saw her as someone she could confide in, and she was happy to see Carla so relieved after sharing the dream, even if it had done nothing to calm Moon's nerves.
She looked back down at the table and crossed her paws over her chest. There had to be some reason Carla had had that dream, and she wanted to know what it meant. Unfortunately, she had no clue as to what it would even mean. The Sun and the Moon? That could be connected to a million different things, but what would it have to do with Frea?
Of course... I'm not even sure the person in the Dream was Frea...
Moon let her eyes close as she let out a long sigh and sweatdropped, What the hell does it mean?
Her eyes snapped open when she felt a paw place itself on her shoulder, and she blinked in surprise to see Lily standing in front of her. "Are you alright?" He asked, and Moon blinked a few times before nodding, and smiling.
"I'm fine. Why do you ask?" She replied and he crossed his paws over his chest, looking her up and down.
"You seem on edge." He pointed out.
Moon shook her was a little, "Oh, yeah I know. But I'm fine really, just thinking is all." She explained and he quirked an eyebrow, but didn't press the subject.
"Alright." He murmured. "Would you like to come on a short fly with me?" He offered and Moon stared.
She was surprised at the question, but smiled up at him none-the-less. "That sounds great," she told him and stood up. As Lily lead the way out of the hall, one last concern bugged her mind.
She needed to decide, if she should tell Frea about the Dream Carla had had, or not.
"Energy Sense!"
Both Frea's and Chase's eyes snapped shut in an instant, and they pressed their palms together between them. Immediately, both their Magic's started to spiral up around them and glow softly in the shade of the trees above them.
The Energy in the air had shifted again, and started to buzz and waver. The world went silent, and they combined their senses together, pushing out farther than they could ever go alone.
They were searching for anything out of the ordinary, anything that would be a cause of the Shifts. They didn't dare breath, they didn't move, they stood still and silent as they searched.
They tensed up when something very powerful suddenly flared up from somewhere far, far away. But it disappeared and the Shift ended before they could figure out what it was, and they opened their eyes, letting their hands fall to their sides.
The only thing they had been able to tell about it, other than it feeling extremely powerful, it felt... ancient, somehow...
"What was that?" Chase breathed and Frea shook her head, sweatdropping the slightest bit.
"I don't know..." She murmured, staring down at her feet. Whatever it was, it had been powerful, and she didn't like it. It was huge, but it had appeared, and disappeared so fast, they hadn't been able to find much out.
Letting out a sigh, she rubbed the back of her neck in slight defeat. Unfortunately, this had done them no good, they didn't have any more answers now, and they were just becoming more confused. "Lets go." Frea murmured, turning away from him and in the direction of the town. "I'll keep looking in the Library, if you see Jynx ask her about it." She told him and he nodded.
"Sure thing, but, before you go.." Chase said lowly and Frea stopped, she had taken a step forward to walk away, but paused. Glancing over her shoulder at him she quirked an eyebrow.
"Yeah?"
Chase looked her over silently, not bothering to say anything, and Frea turned toward him a bit, confused by his behavior slightly. He looked oddly thoughtful, and she could tell there was something he wanted to ask, though she didn't know why he was hesitating.
Chase POV
Chase fixed Frea with a steady gaze, standing still for a moment as he looked her over silently. It seemed Frea would never cease to amaze him, he thought he knew her... But she just came up with more ways to shock him the longer he was around her.
She had always been strong, he had seen that clearly the first time he met her. She had saved his ass from being killed after all, and he had seen just how strong she was against the Monster herd in Jogenen.
For a split second, his stomach tightened at the thought of his old home, and all that had happened there. But it disappeared almost immediately, he shouldn't have to worry about what happened there, or even feel sad anymore.
Frea had explained to him long ago, that letting Negative Emotions hang around for too long was not a good idea. He knew she was right, and he knew she had told him that from experience of her own.
Frea herself had had one of the most brutal and painful life's of everyone in the Guild, he supposed. After she had told him what had happened with Kasumi, Shadow and Winter... She probably knew better than anyone how much negative emotions affected someone.
But back to the matter at hand, in all the time he had known her, from the first time, to their training, the missions, Tenrou... Through all of it, he had become increasingly close to her, and he began to understand her more, he could see her gradually changing, getting stronger.
He looked up to Frea; she had been his Mentor, in some ways she still was, and he thought of her as one of the best teacher's he could have ever hoped for, even if her teaching methods may have been a little... Rough, at times.
He respected her, more than anyone he had ever respected in his life-time. She was a great Mage, strong, powerful, passionate, loyal, and dedicated. She was easily one of the best Mages in Fairy Tail, and in his opinion, probably one of the best Mages in all the Wizards Guilds in Fiore.
But, lets not mistake everything he said for being attracted to her. No, he wasn't attracted to Frea in a romantic way, the thought made him feel a bit uncomfortable, it was just to... Weird.
No, but Frea was definitely a great friend, probably the best friend he had ever had. And they were family he supposed, everyone in Fairy Tail is family.
I owe everything to her, he realized. It was true, his Magic... He joined the Guild because of her, made friends... Hell, he owed her his life. She had saved his ass on numerous occasions, she made it a point to protect everyone in the Guild with her life, he had seen it before.
He sighed and let his eyes close for a moment, he couldn't tell her how grateful he was to her, for everything she had done for him. But something told him she already knew how he felt, and he was glad for it.
"I meant to ask you sooner Teach," he started. "It's about the Protection Spell you used back in Crocus." He opened his eyes to look at her and she blinked in surprise at him. "You said you altered it to work on everyone, including me, when normally it shouldn't have." He paused, letting out a low breath. "How in the hell did you manage to alter it? It sounds like a really old Spell..."
Frea POV
Frea stood in silence as Chase looked her over, seemingly lost in his own thoughts. She could feel the mixed emotions dancing off of him, not particularly interested in trying to place all of them. She was sure he was thinking of a lot of things, probably things that had happened in the past, or maybe the problem at hand. She really didn't know, and she wasn't concerned with finding out at the moment.
"I meant to ask you sooner Teach," Chase started. "It's about the Protection Spell you used back in Crocus." He opened his eyes to look at her and she blinked in surprise at him.
The Protection Spell?
"You said you altered it to work on everyone, including me, when normally it shouldn't have." He paused, "How in the hell did you manage to alter it? It sounds like a really old Spell..." He trailed away and Frea just gazed at him, face going neutral.
He was right, the Protection Spell, or rather 'Aid Spell' considering she had changed it to fit the situation., that Spell was meant to be used specifically by an Energy Mage, in fact it quite literally meant, 'Divine Protection of the Energy Mage'.
Though... she really hadn't a clue why it was in the Dragon Language... now that she thought it over, it wasn't the only Spell supposedly used by Energy Mages, that was spoken in the Dragon Language, as opposed to English.
Anyway, normally, because the Spell was meant to be used by Energy Mages, a draw back of the Spell was that if one Energy Mage cast it on an area, or a group of people like she herself had done, any Energy Mages within that group would not have been affected by the Spell, they would not have received the boost from it.
Would it really make sense that an Energy Mage can be put under the 'Divine Protection' of something they already were, an Energy Mage?
It was this basic idea that the issue was formed upon, so the Spell should not have worked on Chase, if she had not altered it, and left it be.
She had considered this at the time of course, and had taken the necessary action to alter the Spell enough, so that it would work on Chase. He had been one of the people she really had felt the need to give strength to, having been momentarily scared at the fact that she had felt him die before Time was rewound for one minute.
But at the time, it wasn't necessarily the work of the Spell itself that had given Chase strength. Rather, it had been herself that had given him strength directly.
While she had locked on to all the Energy Signatures of the Wizards within Crocus, she had found his specifically, and channeled her own Magic into him instead of the Land's Power.
With this in mind, she actually hadn't altered the Spell at all, in fact she had just managed to bypass the 'rules' of the Spell at the time. But, she was determined to actually change that Spell, so it would work without having to cheat. Even though she hadn't completely been cheating either, the Spell had helped her to channel her Magic into him a little. Something she had managed to do by forcing the Spell to do as she willed.
"I gave you my Magic, not the Land's." She told him after a moment, and he blinked in shock. "When I said I altered it, I wasn't exactly telling the truth, but it wasn't a lie either." She crossed her arms over her chest and sighed. "I did manage to bypass the 'rules' of the Spell, in two ways rather than one."
"The first one I skipped, was the one Master Makarov explained. Where instead of giving my Power to everyone, I gave them the Land's Power, excluding you." Chase was listening to her with slightly wide eyes, finding what she was saying more shocking than he had imagined. "Your right, that is an Old Spell, if memory serves me correctly, it was created by the first Energy Mages, thousands and thousands of years ago, before they disappeared."
"But, the second 'rule' I broke, was the one where it should not have worked on you. But, I was able to force the Spell into working, if only for this one time, by channeling my Power into you directly." She looked away at the ground. "Forcing the Spell... Was harder than I thought it would be, but I plan on finding a permanent Solution for it, so that it may work every time." Looking back at him she smiled a little.
"That way, the Spell will be changed permanently." Her smile grew a bit wider as he just stared, looking astonished at what she told him. But she ignored him, and turned away again. "Come on kid, we should head to the Guild Hall." She called behind her.
"I'm not a kid!" He yelled furiously at her, as if her words had snapped him out of his shocked trance. Frea chuckled at the reaction, glad that he had returned to his regular demeanor so quickly after what she had told him.
She heard him begin to walk behind her as they headed away through the trees back toward Magnolia, and she smiled wider upon hearing him grumble moodily under his breath, clearly irritated at the nickname she wouldn't let him live down, ever.
You'll always be a kid to me... Chase.
Another one is down! Again, I apologize if this was rather boring, its more of a filer chapter, until the real action starts up again.
Thanks for reading and Please, follow, fav, and review if you can! Thanks!
