"In the interest of time I'm going to skip most of the walk to the frozen North, it did take a few days and nothing entertaining happened… besides a few Kazuo taking his rage out on the unfortunate assassins sent to kill us" Chaos told his two listeners
"How bad were the bodies?" Guran asked
"What bodies? Anyway back to the story"
It had been a long walk for the group and even longer since they had last had a decent place to sleep for the night. Chaos was hellbent on getting to Drexel's house as soon as possible and the closer they got the more intent he was on not stopping even for a quick break. Mavis at this point had already tired out and was being carried Kazuo who seemed to never tire out.
"Hey assassin how much longer till we reach your friend's house? You said we'd be there in 10 minutes an hour ago." Kazuo asked
"I only said that to try and get Mavis to keep walking, but since you're carrying her you can ignore that statement. We're about 5 minutes away now so take heart… also why do you keep calling me assassin? I told you I no longer work for the Council" Chaos replied
"True, but frankly even though we've known each other for a while and you have attended many Saber parties I don't know your name. So what would you like me to call you assassin?" Kazuo said
"Anything but assassin, that name is just getting annoying old man." He replied
"Fine then, but stop calling me old man! I'm barely fifty you know and I'm still capable of living another fifty years"
"We have a deal then Kazuo"
They finally saw the outline of an average sized house coming up and began to pick up the pace to escape the endless snowfall. They finally reached the door and Chaos knocked on the door and began waiting patiently for Drexel to answer the door. In the meantime Kazuo dropped Mavis on a folded chair on the porch and joined Chaos in waiting for the door to open. Mavis shifted the chair to face the door and seemed to be the only person that noticed the note on the door that read "On a journey, I'll be back as soon as possible".
"Um, guys am I the only one who notices the sign on the door that says she's not here?" Mavis asked
Chaos stopped his knocking for a second and both he and Kazuo seemed to see the sign for the first time. They stared at it for a good five seconds, while Mavis sighed and laid back on the chair she was sitting on.
"On a journey, well what the hell are we supposed to do while she's gone?" Kazuo asked
"Like hell she's on a journey, Drexel open the fucking door right now!" Chaos yelled as he started pounding on the door
"Idiot, it's clear she's not here we'll just have to find someone else on your list or leave her a note" Kazuo said as he watched Chaos
"No, if I leave a note she's not going to join us on the journey." Chaos replied
"Well you said she was one of your old friends I'm sure she'd be glad to work with you, especially on something this important." Mavis said
"Mavis, Kazuo, I haven't been entirely honest with you" Chaos began
"Why am I not surprised?" Mavis sighed
"Drexel and I used to be good friends. We worked together on several missions on the past but let's just say our last mission didn't end so well and she's kind of mad at me. That's why it's better if I talk to her, she'll at least have to listen to me" Chaos said with a smile on his face "Now there are two possibilities, either she's out like the note says or she's inside and refuses to open the door for me"
"Well what are we supposed to do then?" Kazuo asked
"Simple, break down the door… Kazuo go!" Chaos said pointing at the door while backing up
"Wha-What, why me?" Kazuo asked surprised
"Duh because you're the strongest out of all us, if she has any magical protection on her door you can easily break it down." Chaos replied as he now was off the porch and hiding behind the rails
"Ha, well when you put it like that" Kazuo said winding up his arm "Take this!"
The punch easily broke the door down and out of its foundation causing it to fly and get stuck in a wall inside the house.
"Huh? Guess it didn't have any magic protection on it" Chaos remarked as he got out of his hiding place and walked in the house
"Ah, might have hit it too hard" Kazuo said observing the new wall decoration he had caused
"You guys are just idiots, there's no other way to describe you" Mavis sighed
"Alright now that we're in the house time to search for good ole Drexel. Kazuo you and I will cover the downstairs area and perhaps raid her fridge for something to eat. Mavis you go search upstairs." Chaos told them as he headed for the kitchen
"Wait, why do I have to search the entire upstairs portion by myself?" Mavis asked angrily
"Your brother's right young one. Think about it if Drexel is upstairs she's most likely showering or in her room, we men can't enter it without her getting angry at us, trying to kill us, or us losing our honor as men. However if she sees an adorable teenage girl like yourself, then she'll at least take a moment to wonder who you are before doing anything" Kazuo explained
"Sure, our honor as men or something like that" A voice was heard with sounds coming from the kitchen
Mavis sighed angrily as she knew she would be outvoted in this matter although Kazuo's explanation did make some sense. She went up the stairs and began looking for Drexel although she still had no idea who she was. She began her search looking through each room and calling for Drexel, but each was the same no Drexel in sight. After checking through every room including the bathroom and what she guessed was Drexel's bedroom she walked downstairs and heard laughter from the kitchen.
"Damn those two, they're making me do all the work!" she said twitching angrily
She was about to storm into the kitchen before she looked out one of the windows and noticed a person coming towards the house. She quickly hid behind the couch and watched as the figure got closer to the house and Mavis realized it was a woman.
"Well I guess that's Drexel, that's a relief at least we can talk to her now." Mavis thought "Oh crap, the door! She's going to figure out we broke in and try and kill us on sight!" Mavis figured
Drexel reached the house and paused for a moment to inspect the misplaced door which was now stuck to the wall inside her house
"Great, I've been robbed. I miss the robbers of old who just used to break your window, take what they wanted, and then left an apology note." She muttered as she entered to inspect the house
She calmly went to the door jutting from her wall and with one heave pulled it out of the wall and jammed it back into its proper place. Mavis poked her head above the couch to observe Drexel as she placed the door back in place. Drexel had black hair going down to her shoulder, deep brown eyes, a slim figure with just the right amount of curves, and her face was spotless except for a small scar on her right cheek, in short Mavis thought she was beautiful. Drexel paused a moment before turning around with a small frown on her face.
"Little girl, do you know who did this?" Drexel asked looking at the couch Mavis was hiding behind
"Oh, you knew I was here?" Mavis asked again poking her head above the couch
"Indeed, you need to do a much better job of concealing your magic aura you're quite easy to spot. Again, do you know who did this or… were you the one who caused this?" Drexel asked now walking towards Mavis
"Well, I guess I shoul-" Mavis began before getting cut off by frantic action in the kitchen
"Shit Kazuo I think Drexel is back get up!" Mavis heard her brother say not so quietly. She slapped her forehead in disappointment and simply pointed towards the kitchen.
"They're the idiots who decided to break your door down" Mavis said
"I see… I have a feeling I know one of those idiots" Drexel said now walking in the kitchen
She walked in and was taken aback by the strange scene in her kitchen. There was Chaos trying desperately to lift the clearly drunk Kazuo up to face Drexel. She also noticed most of her wine bottles and beer cans all empty and surrounding the two of them. Chaos noticed her and the developing rage beginning to show on her face, he dropped Kazuo and quickly headed to the nearest window.
"Freeze"
The spell froze the window with a thick layer of ice before Chaos could even get halfway to the window.
"Well I see your ice magic is as fast as ever" Chaos said turning around with a weak smile on his face
"Here you are breaking into my house, drinking all of my booze, and apparently tricking the Thunder God and that adorable girl back there into joining your gang… it's like you want me to kill you." Drexel said with a smirk on her face now getting into her battle stance.
"Now Drexel let's be civil about this, yes I entered into your house without your permission. However in my defense Kazuo did the door busting and the drinking of most of your booze. Greedy bastard barely left me with a bottle of that expensive looking brandy. Now I'm sure you're wondering why me, the Thunder God, and my adorable sister have travelled here to find you" Chaos said
"Not really. Lance, war hammer." Drexel said quickly
"Damn it all" Chaos muttered quietly as he dodged the three attacks.
He touched the ice covering the window, snapped his fingers, and dived out the window as soon as the ice exploded. Drexel followed after him very determined to kill Chaos.
"Wait, can't we talk this over?" Mavis yelled at them
"Let them fight it out. Those children just need to let their anger out before working together" Kazuo said
"Master Kazou, she's clearly trying to kill my brother. I think you're drunk" Mavis replied slightly annoyed
"Haha, you have much to learn about how two adults with romantic tension deal with each other. Although you are right about me being drunk"
"My brother and romance? That's as likely as me starting a mages guild" Mavis replied, although she did wonder if her brother had affairs with women on missions only to leave them forever after the missions were over "Now that seems more like him" she thought
Chaos brushed off the dirt on his coat before quickly ducking a flurry of ice lances fired at him by Drexel. He turned around to see Drexel walking towards him slowly both her hands pointing at him.
"Ice Giant, frozen wasteland"
"Wait a moment, since when could you cast spells at the same time with each hand?" Chaos asked in disbelief
"Get to know me, I'm amazing" she replied with a sly smile
Chaos knew he needed to quickly go on the offensive as his magic worked better in a relentless assault. He released some of his aura to crush the newly formed ice surrounding him and threatening to take over any place he was standing on. The giant was his main concern; simply distracting Drexel and trying to get her to lose focus wasn't going to work as even a spell as demanding as this one she could control with little effort. Even with one hand focused on the giant, she could still keep up an attack as Chaos recently found out.
"jeez I just wanted to talk" he muttered angrily as he was formulating a plan
He grabbed a few chunks of ice his aura broke and threw them at the giant. The giant reached out to slap it out of its way exactly what Chaos had planned on it doing, with a snap of his finger the ice suddenly burst into a medium sized explosion destroying the outstretched arm of the giant.
"How weak do you think I am?" Drexel asked as with a twist of her arm the Giants blown off arm regrew "Apparently pretty weak if you thought I couldn't repair it, Rose Garden" she said casting a new spell
Chaos began dodging the oncoming roses which he thought were fairly pretty and the Giant which had resumed its attack. He jumped in order to dodge the giant's arm and began running up the Giant while making sure to touch the giant with his left hand. He gave a small slap on the face of the giant, jumped up to avoid another blow from the giant, snapped his finger and watched as the giant exploded underneath him.
"Ah, you owe me money Master Kazuo, I told you my brother would figure out how to kill that giant" Mavis said
"Not fair, you can't make bets with a drunken man especially because he's not in the right state of mind" Kazuo complained
"Nobody told you to drink old man, just don't forget my money or I'll send my brother and some goons to break your legs until you give me my money," Mavis replied with an evil grin on her face
"Ah, such a cruel child. What has your brother taught you?" Kazuo cried
Chaos made a quick note to lecture at Mavis for not helping him during a fight when she had a chance before focusing on the fight again. Now was his only chance to end the fight before Drexel could summon another giant thing to crush him. He quickly positioned his body so that his head was pointing at Drexel, he drew his hidden sword and two knives, and gathered magic around his feet before exploding it sending him flying towards Drexel at high speeds.
"Where did he go?" Drexel thought trying to look past the falling ice for Chaos "Oh there he is, hurdling at me very quickly" she said calmly casting both an ice spike and ice lance determined to bring Chaos down
Chaos used his short sword to deflect the spikes and lances that would have killed him letting the weaker ones hit him knowing they wouldn't do much damage. He then threw the two knives at Drexel; she drew up a small ice shield to block the knives, she brought up a large shield to defend herself realizing she wouldn't be able to bring Chaos down in time. Chaos channeled his magic into his short sword and the moment it touched the shield his magic was released causing a large enough explosion to break the shield and his sword and left Drexel open to him.
"Ah, I think the fight is over Master Kazuo" Mavis said now as she finished counting the money Kazuo had given her.
"Well hopefully they didn't kill each other" Kazuo said getting up as he and Mavis went to survey the large amount of dust mixed with ice floating in the air. They finally made it through the large amount of ice and saw Chaos on top of Drexel with a knife across her throat while Drexel's right arm which was covered with ice blades was across Chaos' throat.
"So who won?" Mavis asked
"It's a draw meaning that she'll at least have to listen to me," chaos said with a smile
"Indeed it's a draw so if you don't mind moving your knife from my throat and getting off of me I'll listen to your story," Drexel replied with a smile
"Like hell I will, get that arm away from me and I will," Chaos replied
"How about I solve this" Kazuo sighed as he grabbed both of them roughly, picked them up, and separated them while still holding them aloft "Is that better?" he asked
"Eh, it works for now. Now Drexel if you'll be kind enough to listen to why we're here" Chaos began.
He told her every detail of Council's plan to try and release the ancient powers sealed to try and dominate all of Earthland. He also explained how he and Mavis found Kazuo and convinced him to join their cause.
"That's one hell of story right there… any hard evidence or do I have to go by what you've said?" Drexel asked
"Oh no I have evidence, Kazuo give her the files I showed you while you were drunk," Chaos replied
"Yeah, here you go miss" Kazuo said giving her the files he had taken out of his pack
"Hey, how come you didn't show me those files?" Mavis asked
"Well you never asked," Chaos replied
"Man…" Drexel replied as she read through the files "No question about it, these are diagrams on how to unlock some ancient magic alright. I knew the Council did some shady things, well you and I did those shady things, but still this is world domination we're talking about. What the hell is Kaizus thinking?" she continued
"So will you join us?" Chaos asked
"Hmm although I'm still thinking on how to torture you to death I'm sure this is just a bit more important right now." She said "But that can be done tomorrow"
"Tomorrow?" Chaos asked
"Well yeah, I just finished a long journey I'm not just going to leave on another without taking some time off, besides I want to know what you're planning and who else will be joining us in the future. There's also no need to rush right now, no way the Council can do something like this quickly one mistake and they'll all die. They'll take their time don't worry… and as much as it pains me to say this you three are welcome to stay the night" She said
"Yeah we finally get a break!" Mavis exclaimed happily as she ran back into the house to escape the cold
They followed her in and Kazuo and Chaos quickly made themselves at home once again in her house resuming their drinking while Drexel went upstairs to shower.
"Hey aren't there any kid friendly drinks I'm thirsty too you know" Mavis said
"Mavis you're in a single woman's house, why the hell would Drexel ever have kids over? So all she has are drinks for herself which all happen to be alcoholic go get some water that'll do too," Chaos replied as he fought Kazuo for a bottle of sake
Mavis grumbled a bit and her hair twitched in annoyance before she decided there was no point and got herself some water. Kazuo quickly fell asleep in a drunken stupor forcing Mavis and Chaos to lift up his large figure and dump him on a couch he was clearly too big for. They waited for Drexel in the kitchen and passed the time with idle conversation while Mavis looked through the files
"Hey, be honest with me how good are our chances of actually stopping the Council from doing this?" Mavis asked
"To be honest it very much depends on how many mages we're able to convince to join us. The Councilors themselves are some of the strongest mages in the world which is why they're councilors. They'd easily be a match for me, heck they even have a mage who could fight Kazuo on equal grounds."
"What!? How can anyone match the Thunder God himself, he's one of the Ten Wizard saints!" Mavis exclaimed in shock
"They have Wizard Saints too you know some of them make me look downright weak. But as long as we get the right mages to match up against them then it shouldn't be an issue. But that might take a bit because some of the Councilors I'm not sure how to beat them or if there's mage that can beat them let alone survive long enough for one of us to stop the ritual." Chaos said
"That doesn't even begin to cover how we're going to get enough mages to match up against their common soldiers and enforcement troops" Drexel said entering the room
"Ah Drexel there you are, you sure take your sweet time" Chaos said
"My bad, I fell asleep in the tub but hey I'm all stress free now so it's all good" she said sitting down at the table. "Also is Kazuo going to be okay, he seems different than the Thunder God I'm used to seeing and hearing about" she asked
"He's just dealing with some depression right now, trust me when I say when it comes to the Council though he'll do everything to kill them" Chaos assured her
"Yeah those assassins didn't know what they were dealing with. I actually felt bad for them although they tried to kill us," Mavis added
"Well that's good. So who else are we going to go after this?" Drexel asked
"Well I know some former assassins like us who might be willing to join in, but frankly I'm not sure if they'd be enough. Then there's the whole we'd need an army thing, but one thing at a time I always say" Chaos answered
"Well if I might be so bold as to offer a suggestion, I know someone who'd be an excellent addition to the team. She's powerful enough to give me this scar you see on me and I'm fairly sure she wasn't even fighting at half her capabilities." Drexel began
"Really now, who is this mystery woman?" Chaos asked suddenly interested
"Her name's Julie or Julia I think. Anyway like I said very powerful, she's a dragon slayer."
"Dragon slayer? Please those mages are overrated and they won't shut up about being raised by dragons. Oooh look at me I was taught magic by a dragon, that's not going to stop me from killing you and your dragon. " Chaos muttered angrily "Also ha you could wounded by a dragon slayer" he snickered
"Pretty sure even you and I working together couldn't kill the dragon that raised her"
"Oh, who raised her? Igneel, Metalicana, Bios?" Chaos asked listing the only three dragons he had ever met and fought against
"Try Acnologia"