Surprise chapter!
Pretty sure no one expected us to drop this huh? Well, here you have the next chapter of Phantom, Fairies and the Void.
Which has an intro now!
Maji ka! ? Majide! ? Majida! ! ! ! Showtime!
The scene starts with a shot of Wizard, then a shot of Beast, ending with a shot of Louise and Saito as the four of them held out their hands, as magic seals appeared and converged, before igniting in flames as the title appears.
Maru de tsuki to taiyō kasanaru toki no shōgeki
The scene changes to show Marcus and William standing in the streets of an unnamed city, before a shot of Wizard and Beast suddenly appears superimposed over them, followed by a shot of them walking down a path.
Dare datte kiseki shinjite mitai
Louise and Saito suddenly appear behind them, walking the opposite direction, as the crowd seemingly move at lightning speed around them before the view stops and suddenly shatters away, revealing them to now be in Magnolia.
Kitto hitsuyō fukaketsu no enajī kokoro no tame
The scene changes to show Louise in a library as several books float around her, a shadow of a figure holding some kind of cane and wearing some kind of hood behind her. The scene then shifts to show Saito in a training room practicing his swordsmanship as behind him is the shadow of a figure with two swords strapped on their back.
Yume to yosō ii imi de uragitte kureru mono
Various imagery is seen of magic circles, the Wizard toyline, the pentagram of the 5 elements, and various maps of of Earthland, ending on a scene of Marcus and William activating their transformations.
(3 2 1 Showtime!)
The scene shows shots of various Fairy Tail members, before going to Louise and Saito who are carrying a magic stone that shines brightly.
MAGIC time torikku janai Mahō hirō hanpane~e ze! (Maruto hareruya!)
The light fades to show Wizard and Beast standing side by side at the ready with their weapons drawn, while their Familiars fly out of magic circles behind them, as their magic circles appear behind the two as they charge forward.
Kioku no roots mogurikonde kibō sukui-dasou
The two are seen alongside Natsu as flames surround them and Beast dons the Chameleon mantle, before the two shift through a blue magic circle, Wizard now in Water Style and Beast with Dolphin mantle as Gray freezes the lake to create pillars of ice, before the two jump upwards through a green magic circle, revealing Wizard in Wind Style and Beast with the Falcon Mantle, while Erza is in the air with her Heaven's Wheel armor, her swords flying in the wind that Wizard creates before the two fall back to the ground, going through a yellow magic circle, Wizard and Beast landing in Land Style and Buffalo Mantle respectively as Lucy calls forth Taurus and stands at the ready.
Showtime!
A quick shot is seen of Louise holding out her hand to an eclipse, before Saito is seen grabbing hold of her hand as a light shines from the joined hands.
Life is showtime tobikiri no Unmei no drive mucha shite mo (Maruto hareruya!)
The scene changes to show Wizard and Beast falling through a portal into an Underworld, before it shifts again to show them riding on top of Dragon and Chimera's backs as the two Phantoms fly into the sky, the two riders drawing their weapons, followed by a quick shot of Engage rings falling to the ground.
Kinō, kyō, ashita, mirai
The scene changes to show the four of them in a normal day in the Fairy Tail Guild, which is rowdy as ever while the four try to maintain some semblance of sanity in their little group...and soon go 'screw it' and join the madness, though they're all laughing while doing it.
subete no namida o (Showtime!)
The scene changes to show the four of them standing at the ready before a looming darkness coming in the distance as as the world seems to be breaking apart.
Hōseki ni kaete yaru ze! Maji ka! ? Majide! ? Majida! ! ! ! Showtime!
The magic stones in their possession shine brightly as the various images of allies and and enemies flash through the scene, before everything is slowly but surely fixed again, the world being restored as the light pushes the shadow back, before the final scene shows them walking back to the guild hall and opening the door, coming home from another day's work.
"I still think it's unfair." Louise said in a slightly bitter tone as she watched Griffon and Garuda flying around their little group shortly after they set off, having had to sleep outside for the night, thankfully they'd managed to buy a large enough tent to house all three of them recently.
She honestly still had a bit of trouble accepting the fact that two commoners had access to their own brand of familiar, while she, a noble, had none to speak of.
"Well, keep in mind, from how you explained it, Familiars that you use are living beings that are basically specially picked. In our case, our Familiars are more akin to what you'd call a Golem, since we made them," Marcus explained placatingly.
"At least you can still have some," she pouted. She tried not to let it get to her, but her current situation regarding magic was still a bit frustrating. It didn't help that even after going through the entire ritual for the Spring Familiar Summoning, and getting sucked into another world, she didn't even get a Familiar to show for her effort. "I don't even know if I can get one now…" she sighed.
"Well, last time was an accident. If you'd like we can always try again once we find a good spot for the ritual," William said.
Louise thought about it and eventually nodded. It couldn't hurt to try again. "At any rate where are we right now?" she asked, wanting to get their bearings again.
"If I'm right, we should be close to Magnolia by now, we'll see it once we reach the top of the next hill most likely." Marcus said, they'd managed to get their hands on a map over the last few weeks of travelling, and while it wasn't an enchanted map that showed their exact location, it still helped.
"Good," Louise sighed. She really wasn't used to traveling like this…
"So… why aren't we using the bikes again?" William asked after a moment.
"Well, first, we have no clue if we need to refuel them, but I'm having some deep thoughts about that." Marcus said, and William understood that he meant 'Talking about it with Dragon' "And secondly-"
"I'm NOT getting on that again." Louise said with a frown, she wasn't too excited about the bike, especially after what happened last week, shivering as she remembered the brothers deciding to jump a cliff with the bikes.
"We said we were sorry. We figured that was the fastest way to get across," William sighed.
"Well at least tell me next time," Louise huffed before frowning a little. A LOT of what the brothers used still made her head spin at times. On one hand her upbringing still couldn't help but see what she'd learned as heretical, but there was no denying the wonder in what she'd learned from the brothers, of what their isolated colony was able to achieve.
Especially considering she could do actual magic now, no longer did just create explosion after explosion, being capable of doing exactly what she had in mind, be it levitating an object, to setting a monster aflame.
Then there was the magical objects their people had been able to make. The 'motorbikes' that they used were apparently among the simplest of things they'd made. They'd told her of entire carriages that could move on their own like the 'motorbikes' they used, of devices that could sent images and sounds to many people in one go, and even devices that allowed two people to communicate over a distance as if they were in a direct conversation.
Honestly, it all sounded impossible to her, but considering everything else they could do, she felt inclined to believe them. At any rate, she was more or less stuck with them seeing as they were the only ones who knew of her situation and vice versa...and as it was, they seemed more used to traveling.
It wasn't long after she had that thought that got up the hill Marcus had indicated, feeling a bit excited at the prospect of finally reaching their destination.
What she saw once they reached the top was… VERY impressive.
The most prominent location was obviously the cathedral in the center of the city, called Cardia if she remembered correctly, and all the way to the north of town was a massive lake, with a decently sized building standing near it's shore.
"Wow...its bigger than I thought it would be...and I thought it would be big to begin with…" Marcus whistled.
"Here I thought it would be roughly the size of our own hometown… it's twice that size." William added, before chuckling "I can't wait to reach the guild, I wonder what their kitchen looks like?"
"Personally, I hope the guild master won't mind if I run a business while still being a member, I don't want my jewelry making skills to go rusty after all… despite the new spells I'm making." Marcus said, glancing at the three new rings on his holder.
"Well...what DO we know about this...Fairy Tail guild?" Louise asked. She figured they could get an idea of what the Guild Master is like from how the guild is like.
The two brothers glanced at each other with awkward looks "Well…" Marcus started "It's… notorious for being VERY accident prone, like… I heard there's one member that sets fire to towns without meaning to do so when he goes all out. And they get in trouble with the magic council a lot from what I heard."
Louise looked at him with a dry stare, her eyebrow twitching "And WHY do you want to join them?"
"Because we also heard that the people at Fairy Tail are probably the most welcoming out of every other guild in the kingdom." William added. "Some guilds tend to impose some kind of ridiculous requirement or ideal that would very likely kill someone if they can't quite live up to that standard…"
Louise opened her mouth to respond...then stopped. Thinking about it, them being not from this world...it would probably be safer to go for a guild that WAS welcoming rather than one that would expect something of them. So with that in mind… "...I concede your point…" she sighed. "I assume you know where the guild building is then?"
"The big building all the way in the back of town. We just have to follow the main street till we get there." Marcus said, tracing the path with his finger from the distance they were.
"Well then, no time like the present," William grinned. "Wanna make an entrance?"
"...you're planning on using those devices again aren't you?" Louise sighed.
"Oh come on, there is literally no cliff, and we won't be going too fast either, we'll go at scenic speed, so we can look at the town a bit." Marcus said placatingly.
Louise stared at him for a good long moment, until she eventually sighed "Fine."
It was a normal day in the Fairy Tail Guild building, and by normal it meant it was utter chaos. What was the cause THIS time...nobody was quite sure. But suffice to say, it lead to another brawl inside the hall. However, the hostilities took a sudden pause when someone noticed something.
"Hey, does someone hear growling?" one of them asked.
"If someone was THAT hungry, the bar is right here," another chuckled.
"No way that's someone's stomach!" a third retorted.
"Hey...is it coming closer?" a fourth noticed.
Suddenly, the front doors were thrown open by a huge arm with a ring on it, those with good eyes noticing the ring showed the image of a dragon getting larger, before the arm was retracted and disappeared through a magic seal, as two figures rode into the guild hall on strange vehicles, though they also noticed a third figure riding along one of them, the one on the silver vehicle specifically.
The figures stopped after going pass the doors, everyone noticing the growling was coming from their vehicles, before it suddenly stopped.
Everything was silent in the guild as the two parties looked at each other.
Until finally, the one on the golden vehicle tilted their head "Is this a bad time?"
The answer he got was some random member stepping forward. "For a couple of guys looking for a fight? Never," the random member smirked, before a magic seal appeared. It was clear they had taken their entrance as a challenge.
Under their helmets, the brothers glanced at each other, recognising one of the less important faces from the earlier moments of the series, literally a no-named member for fans, before, Marcus slyly shifted rings and scanned one "BIND! PLEASE!" and with that his magic seal appeared under the member, and he was suddenly wrapped up in chains, his own seal disappearing.
"I knew this guild was gung-ho, but I didn't think it was the shoot first and ask questions later type." Marcus said dryly.
"Hey! Let me go!" the no name member shouted in indignation as he tried to struggle free.
"Considering you're clearly intent on trying to attack us, especially when everyone seems to be getting the message, that's a no." William said, noticing how everyone was starting to relax a bit, it helped since they were showing absolutely no signs of hostility against the guild save for this random idiot.
"Alright, if you're not here to pick a fight, mind stating your business?" said a man with a cigarette in his mouth, wearing a simple outfit, but his most notable features were his brown pompadour and squinted eyes.
The brothers smiled behind their helmets, glad to see a familiar face in the form of Wakaba Mine, a Smoke Magic user, before Marcus decided to answer "We were hoping to join the guild, so we decided to make a flashy entrance since it's best to start loud then silent." he said with a laugh.
"Well...you sure achieved that," another voice said, it was a man with tan skin, with dark blue hair and a thin mustache and beard, his outfit was normal save for the white coat he wore, and the necklace in the shape of a large S. Macao Conbolt, the brothers quickly recognised. "We're always glad to get new members, though you're gonna have to talk to the Guild Master for that. He should be around, though first..." he trailed off as he looked at the chains.
"Oh. Right, sorry about that." Marcus said as he took off his helmet and snapped his fingers, the chains breaking off the member, who turned and walked away with a huff.
"Well, friendly ain't he?" William said dryly as he pulled off his own helmet, Louise soon doing the same as they stepped off the bikes and put up the kickstands for now.
"Don't worry about him, he's just a newbie who's trying to be a hotshot… can't remember his name though." Wakaba waved off the issue.
"That sounds… different than I expected." Louise said slowly, not able to come up with anything clever.
"So, where is the guild master anyway?" Marcus asked as he slipped off Bind for Connect in case they needed to store the bikes.
"Probably on the second floor." A woman's voice said this time, Marcus turning and… wow, the show did not do Mirajane justice. She was definitely a beauty, with a curvy figure that people would have to be blind to not find attractive. She had long white hair with some part of the hair on her forehead tied up to expose her forehead, dark blue eyes, and she was wearing a simple casual red dress. Marcus had to make sure he wasn't drooling because he would be lying if he said he didn't find her beautiful.
"There won't be any need," came a new, albeit elderly, voice, and despite the age, there was a clear sign of energy behind it...as rather small old man suddenly landed in their midst.
"Makarov Dreyar, right?" William asked, since Marcus was still trying to figuratively pick his jaw up from the floor after looking at Mirajane.
"The one and only." Makarov said with a grin, his jester like hat hiding his balding head.
"We were hoping to join your guild." Louise said, having decided that it was the best course of action for herself, her words snapping Marcus out of it and making him grin internally.
"I see, well, we'll be happy to have you." Makarov said with an even larger grin as the rest of the guild cheered at the prospect of new members.
"What do we need to do to join?" Louise asked curiously.
"Nothing. I just need to approve." Makarov said plainly.
Louise stared at him for several moments, before she finally found her voice "Wait… what?"
"That's just how manly this guild is!" someone, Elfman obviously the brothers figured, shouted.
"That's convenient," Marcus chuckled. "So...I guess we get those tattoos to show we're members then?" he said, playing the part of someone who didn't know, referring to the Fairy Tail emblem each member bore.
"That's right!" exclaimed a young woman that Louise felt scandalised just from looking at her, considering how much skin she was exposing, her guild mark on prominent display next to her belly button. Cana Alberona, and William was impressed at the size of the pitcher she was drinking from.
"Are those...really necessary?" Louise asked uncertainty. Sure they were the guild emblem, but...she really was less than thrilled at the idea of getting a tattoo. Especially knowing how it was applied when it came up in conversation with the twins once and William showed off a small one on his bicep of a lion cub.
"Well of course. How else are you gonna let everyone know you're part of Fairy Tail?" one of the other members said. "Besides, it's just a magic tattoo. Nothing big."
"Oh, right, it's not THAT kind of tattoo," Marcus decided now was a good a time as any to explain.
"Huh?" Louise blinked...before staring when what was brought out...was what appeared to be an ink stamp.
"Yeah, while these marks are like tattoos, they're applied with this magic stamp, and are important since they can't be removed unless the member leaves or is excommunicated from the Guild," Marcus explained.
"Ah...I see…" Louise mused. Okay, she still felt a LITTLE unsure, but not nearly as much as she had before.
"So, who's up first?" Mirajane as she waved the stamp a little with a smile.
"Me I guess." Marcus said, walking up to her and unbuttoning his shirt enough so that he could pull it open to the side "Right over my heart in crystal blue please."
"Someone's feeling proud huh?" Mirajane said in amusement as she set it to color he asked before putting the stamp over his heart, leaving the guild mark there as he then closed it back up.
"I'm next." William said as he went up to her and just tugged the collar of his shirt down a bit and pointed to the right side of his neck "Gold please."
"One golden mark coming up." Mira said and stamped the side of his neck, leaving a golden colored mark.
Louise saw it was her turn now, and went up to Mirajane a bit nervously, thinking first of where to put it, before eventually pulling up her sleeve "Right here please." she said, before blinking "And, uh, the color…" she trailed off, not sure what to choose.
"I think I know what would suit you best." Mira said with a smile as she set a color and stamped Louise, leaving a pink color guild mark on her forearm, before the sleeve was pulled back down.
"And with this you are all officially welcomed into the Fairy Tail guild," Makarov smiled...before he realized something. "Oh my, in all the excitement, I don't think we ever properly introduced ourselves. As you know, I am Makarov Dreyar, the current Guild Master of Fairy Tail."
Marcus chuckled sheepishly "Sorry about that, we were so focused on making a showy entrance we forgot about it too. My name's Marcus Rings, that's my brother William, and the little miss here is Louise Francoise."
Louise trying to show indifference at the lack of her full name, but it still irked her a tiny bit, not counting the fact her family name sounded too fancy, so they had suggested she avoid using it in case people asked the wrong questions.
After that, the rest of the guild introduced themselves, most of the members being present, though the brothers noticed the lack of Natsu, Happy, Erza, and the Thunder God Tribe, most likely, those ones were out on missions. It was nice to see Gray though… and hilarious to see his random stripping with their own eyes, even if Louise almost blasted him for suddenly being down to his underwear.
Suffice to say, their first day was quite memorable and enjoyable. Now though, as the day was nearing its end, they had to deal with a new issue. Lodging. "So...anyone know any good places we can get lodging for the time being before we go look for our own place?" William asked.
"I'm pretty sure you could just bunk in the infirmary for now, there's plenty of beds." Gray told them after he got dressed again.
"That's right, we tend to allow new members to stay in the building if they don't have a place to stay, though you're in luck, since there's actually a few houses for sale in town right now, some people moved out recently, they had issues with how rowdy we were since the houses are close to the guild." Makarov said as he was sitting on the table and drinking a large glass of beer.
"What's the price range?" Marcus asked.
"Less than Fairy Hills I can tell you that much." Cana said bitterly, before adding "Well, assuming you'll buy it together that is and split the pay."
"Probably what we're going to do." William said with a nod.
"What's Fairy Hills though?" Louise asked with a raised eyebrow.
"A dormitory for the female members of Fairy Tail, it costs 100 000 Jewels a month to stay there." Mirajane answered, and wasn't surprised at Louise's pale face.
"Speaking of jewels, know anywhere I could sell the wares I make?" Marcus asked as he reached into into his bag and pulled out some of the normal jewelry he made since getting here.
Makarov took one of the necklaces, inspecting it with a hum as he held it up the light of the sun that came in from the windows "This is some pretty good stuff. You made it yourself?"
Marcus nodded "Yeah, I even made a few of my magic rings, most of them are hand-me-downs though." he added as he showed off the three rings he had made recently, one showing the image of a dragon fading away, another showing a dragon breathing out smoke in the shape of a skull, and the third showing a dragon with a cross shape over its mouth.
"Hm...interesting. I don't believe I've ever seen magic rings quite like these," Makarov mused. "I assume that means you're a Ring Mage, then?"
"Something like that yes," Marcus nodded. "Though I guess it'd be more precise to call it jewel magic when in full use," he added that last one more to himself, but Makarov heard him anyway, though the old man decided not to press on the matter.
"Well, while we're on that subject, what about you two?" Gray asked, looking at William and Louise.
"Oh...uh…" Louise blinked, not sure what to say.
"We're actually teaching Louise here a method of magic used by someone that was well known in our hometown, it sounds stupid when it's explained, but it's incredibly versatile." William said.
"How does it work?" Mira asked with a raised eyebrow.
Louise looked around at that, before looking at Cana's huge pitcher of alcohol "Taolf." and suddenly the beverage floated up and outside of the pitcher, Cana staring at it dumbfounded.
"Floating magic?" Gray tried to guess with a confused look.
"Try 'Absolutely anything she wants'." Marcus said with a laugh "By focusing her magic core and speaking a word in reverse, Louise can have exactly what she wants happen."
"That's...actually really overpowered," a girl with mid length blue hair, and a slim build with a somewhat bookworm-ish feel to her said, the brothers recognizing her as Levy McGarden. "As long as there is no mispronunciation, that would make her magic easily the most versatile magic I've ever heard of."
"That's the problem right now, I need to put a lot of focus into it or else I get something similar but different." Louise said, while in the background, Cana had given up on understanding what was happening with her beer, grabbed a straw, and started drinking it as it floated in the air.
"Interesting…" Makarov mused, before turning back to Marcus. "As for your earlier question, there is a bazaar that is open during the end of the week. Usually peddlers or traveling merchants try to sell their wares there. It may be a good start," he said, earning a nod from Marcus.
"So he's a jeweler and the squirt is using new magic. Cool," Cana said as she finally grabbed and finished up her drink. "So, what can this guy do?" she asked, referring to William.
"Well, I use rings like my brother, but these ones are special." William started, showing off the Griffon ring, he then grinned "Where I really shine though is the kitchen."
"Oh? A cook huh? Well, if you're that good, you'd certainly be able to make the job easier on Mira." Makarov said with a light grin.
"Heh, I'd like to think I am," William smirked.
"Well then, show us what you can do," the old man grinned.
"I think he will," Marcus chuckled.
Whatever the case, William was already in the kitchen by then, and looked over the ingredients available.
"So, what's the menu going to be tonight?" Marcus smirked.
"Something simple but delicious," William smirked as he got to work. A little over an hour later, and everyone was...looking a bit blankly at what appeared to be a simple bowl of rice and what appeared to be scrambled up eggs in bowls next to said rice.
"Uh… not that I'm complaining… but this is just eggs over rice, anyone can make that." Gray said plainly.
"Please tell me there's a secret ingredient? Is it beer? Please god tell me it's beer." Cana pleaded.
"Heh, you wouldn't be the first to say that, but there IS a secret ingredient," Marcus chuckled, knowing what this was.
"But rather than us tell you, why don't you try it first?" William smirked confidently.
"Well...he did go through the trouble of making this for us, so I suppose it's the least we can do," Makarov nodded, before picking up his bowl, sprinkling the egg topping over the rice. However when he did, he noticed that something was mixed with the egg, catching his attention as it seemed almost...bouncy, like some kind of jellied cube...and suddenly he noticed it started melting from the heat, mixing into the meal. "This is…" he blinked in surprise, seeing the secret ingredient coat the egg and some of the rice, before he quickly took a taste of the rice with the eggs. When it touched his tongue, his eyes snapped open in shock after the first bite.
"Something wrong Master?" one of the guild members asked.
"Is it really that bad?!" somebody else asked, and William almost threw something at them for that.
"No...it's the complete opposite...its...its...DELICIOUS!" Makarov all but roared as he started eating at a fast pace. "It seems like a simple dish, but it's something else. There's this flavor in the egg and rice from whatever those cubes were...is it chicken?"
"That's right!" William said with a grin "I won't bore you with the long details, but I roasted a chicken wing before letting it simmer in the sauce, after that, I just had to wait for it to turn to gelatin, and cut it up, before mixing it into the egg. Once it hit the hot rice, the gelatin melts and mixes into the rest of the dish, adding the flavor to it. That's why this is called the Transforming Eggs Over Rice," William said with a big grin as everyone else began trying, and pretty soon, shouts of 'DELICIOUS' were heard through the hall. Even Louise was still impressed by the flavors. She'd tasted many fine foods in her world, but this was something else, and to think it was made from simple ingredients too.
"So? What's the verdict?" Marcus asked them knowingly, he'd built up an immunity to his brother's cooking, so while he loved the taste, he wasn't shocked or entranced by it anymore.
Makarov quickly finished up his bowl, setting it down and taking a deep breath "All in agreement to make William here our new chef?"
He was met with a resounding chorus of "AYE!" from the rest of the guild.
William chuckled a bit sheepishly "Well, just so everyone knows, I probably won't be able to work every single day because of going on a job, so hope that works with you all."
"That's just fine! Besides, I'm sure that some of the others who do the rounds in the kitchen will learn a bit from you and get better." Makarov said with a nod of approval.
"Lord knows some of them need it." Macao muttered, thinking of some of the food certain members that went into the kitchen made sometimes, the guild having come to call those strange dishes 'Mystery Food X'.
It wasn't long before everything was cleaned up and as it was getting late, many of the members were going home for the night. As such, the three of them were now in the infirmary, using them as temporary lodgings.
"Well, I'd say today was a pretty good day," Marcus chuckled.
"It certainly was, I mean, I'm a cook for the guild now." William said with a large grin "Now, I'll get to practice recipes to fit everyone's tastes, and with how much that Cana girl likes to drink, probably something that helps keep a person sober by eating." he said, speaking as if he wasn't familiar with the people while Louise was with them.
"So I guess starting tomorrow we'll start working for the guild. Its like mercenary work if I understand correctly," Louise mused.
"Something like that, though its entirely our choice which jobs to take, and I hear Fairy Tail is a lot of things, but unethical it isn't," Marcus said. "I hear they don't accept morally questionable jobs or anything that we wouldn't want to have to do."
"Which is why it was our number one choice about which guild to join… though I'm glad Erza Scarlet wasn't here, I heard she's one hell of a hardass and disciplines others, so if she saw us bust open the door like that… yeah, she would have put us in our place." William said with a slightly nervous tone.
"And I guess whatever job that Natsu guy they told us about lasted longer than just a day, apparently we just missed him when we arrived." Marcus added, as while the flamebrain was likeable, he had a feeling their first meeting would be a headache and a half.
"Say… earlier today, you two mentioned that the last time I tried to summon a familiar, due to the combination of odd circumstances, it went wrong. So do you think I could try again out back?" Louise asked suddenly, making the brothers look at her.
"You mean right now?" William asked, blinking.
Louise nodded "I know what the rune circle looks like, I'd just need some chalk to draw it into the ground and I'll be able to try to summon again."
"Well...let's do it out back, so it won't bother anyone," Marcus suggested. "I'm sure we can find some chalk around here."
"Good idea," Louise nodded. It wasn't long before the preparations were set.
While Louise was psyching herself up, the brothers were having a quiet conversation between themselves.
"What do we do if it's Saito?" William asked in a whisper.
"We'll have to make sure he can properly fight. This place isn't Halkegenia, it's filled with a lot of MUCH stronger mages." Marcus said in thought.
"What should we teach him?" William asked with a frown as he noticed Louise was finally starting her chant.
"Requip for weapons first of all, he seems to be able to handle his way through a sword better than other weapons, maybe some enchantments as well, and we'll look into copy magic so he can copy sword styles he sees." Marcus listed off on his fingers.
"That works. Then there's the runes we gotta worry about. It's just not right to brainwash someone even if inadvertently. Honestly, Helkagenia is one screwed up place with morality down the drain," William snorted, knowing that the part where Void mages were supposed to get human familiars was very much intentional by Brimir, and he fully included the same effects down to what was basically brainwashing. And that wasn't even addressing the part where their holy figure which they sometimes regarded as if a god, openly endorsed the idea of genocide for the Elves. Sure they weren't friendly, but Genocide was crossing all the lines.
"I think our best bet for that would be to talk with Dragon and Chimera, they might have an idea." Marcus said, and the slight mental nudge he got told him Dragon was willing to help.
"Whatever the case, we're gonna find out real soon," William said, as true enough…
BOOOM!
An explosion happened.
"Dammit! Not again!" came Louise's frustrated shout as she pointed at the smoke. "Yawa wlob!" she called out, blowing the smoke away, just as the brothers came closer. What they found…
"Yep, its Saito," they both muttered so she wouldn't hear as they looked at the dazed form of one Saito Hiraga, wearing a blue hoodie with white highlights, messy black hair, and blue eyes.
Louise's face as she looked at the boy was blank for several moments, until finally… "What." came the flat response.
"I'm guessing summoning a human is uncommon?" Marcus asked, already knowing the answer.
"Very uncommon yes… I was supposed to summon a divine and beautiful familiar, not a random boy… he might be wise though if I'm lucky." Louise said with a sigh.
"Don't count on it." William muttered to himself, nobody hearing him.
"Well...guess we might as well wake him up," Marcus sighed as he slipped on the water ring, and a magic circle appeared...before dousing the dazed boy with a stream of water.
Once the water stopped, the boy was left hacking up what he'd swallowed, before finally realising he wasn't, well, wherever he was last "W-wait, this isn't the bathroom! Why am I outside? This isn't my yard? And who are you people?!" he asked, finally noticing the trio at the end, all of which were giving him utterly dry stares.
"Ah, this is going to be a hassle isn't it?" William said in the most dry tone he could manage.
"Looks like it." Marcus added in the same tone.
"Maybe I should have avoided summoning in the end." Louise finished in her own dry tone.
"Don't talk like I'm not here!" the oh so confused one snapped at them.
"Mind letting us have a word with him first Louise?" Marcus asked the pinkette.
"Be my guest." she said with a sigh.
With that, the brothers nodded, before walking towards Saito, each of them lifting up by hooking a hand underneath his armpits, and pulling him away for a private discussion.
"Judging by your outfit and everything, I think it's safe to say you're not from 'around here'," Marcus said flatly, the brothers still playing the role of being just as out of the loop as Saito and Louise.
"Where IS here though?" Saito asked with a frown.
"Welcome to the town of Magnolia, in the kingdom of Fiore." William told him, gesturing to the large town which actually had a decent night life from the amount of lights still being on.
"Uh...where is that?" Saito blinked. Now he wished he'd paid more attention in geography.
"...you're thinking this place is somewhere on the map, aren't you?" William deadpanned.
"Kid, where are you from?" Marcus asked with a sigh.
"Japan… why?" Saito asked, starting to get nervous.
"There is no such thing as Japan in this world. It's safe to say that you're in a completely different one." William told him flatly.
"...you're joking, right? Haha...real funny," Saito was sweating now...and then he saw the flat expressions that told him no, they were DEAD serious. "So...I'm...in another world...that...that…" Saito trailed off as he soon devolved into a blubbering mess and curled up into a ball, having a nervous breakdown. Not that the brothers could blame him. This wasn't something ANYONE would expect to happen to them.
"If it helps, Louise, the one who summoned you, has NO control over what her spell chose to grab." Marcus said once he saw Saito starting to calm down a bit after a few minutes.
"So… she didn't mean to grab me?" Saito asked, looking at the pink haired girl seemed to be practicing something while she waited.
"No, in fact, she expected her spell to call an animal for her, not a human." William added.
"Well...glad to know that at least…" Saito sighed. "So...what now? Oh and I don't think we've introduced ourselves…" he realized. "My name's Saito. Hiraga Saito."
"It's the given name first, just thought you should know." Marcus said, earning a nod from Saito "As for me, I'm Marcus Rings, this is my brother William, and the pinkette waiting for us is Louise Francoise."
"Right… how did she summon me anyway?" Saito asked as he thought back on that detail.
"We're mages, the big building you see there is the guild we just joined today, Fairy Tail. Also, considering Louise summoned you, I'm pretty sure the familiar bonding process has already started." that was an obvious lie, but Saito didn't know that, they just wanted to avoid having him running before Louise DID take care of the bonding process, after all, if he ran and Louise tried again, it would just bring him back to them, resulting in an endless cycle of Saito running and Louise summoning.
"Uh...what?" Saito said blankly. He more or less understood...about half of that.
"Long story short, the fact you were summoned means you're supposed to work for her and protect her." Marcus decided to sum it up.
"Uh… I don't know anything about self defense, so I'd probably suck at defending another person entirely." Saito said.
"Don't worry, there's some magic types we can teach you, well, more like buy you the stuff needed for you to learn them. A lot of magic equipment can just be bought, and there's a lot of magic that's pretty easy to learn." William explained.
"Okay...I guess that helps," Saito admitted, before thinking about it, muttering a little. "Okay...this might not be so bad...just think of it like an 'isekai' anime. Yeah, the protagonist is usually okay in those stories…" he was muttering, but the brothers still heard him, causing them to share a dry look at the irony of the train of thought.
Once he was done muttering, Marcus told him one last thing "By the way, Louise still needs to finalize the summoning, so don't read too much about what she has to do to finalize it, alright?" he said, his words confusing Saito, who nodded along anyway as they walked back towards the pinkette.
"Okay, we managed to talk to him and he's...well...he gets the situation more or less, so he's willing to finalize the ritual since he's stuck here just like us," William said to Louise.
"We'll have to explain him to everyone else tomorrow morning." Louise said with a sigh, before going up to Saito and motioning for him to crouch down a bit as she then grabbed his collar "Don't try anything." she said, and before Saito had a chance to ask what she meant, Louise kissed him on the lips.
Saito's eyes widened in surprise, right as Louise broke the kiss. "Was that really necessary?" he blinked. Sure it was...kinda nice, but still…
"Yes," Louise said flatly. It was clear she wasn't thrilled at all about that bit.
Before Saito could question things further, he winced and grabbed his hand biting the inside of his cheek as he almost screamed from the sensation of something burning itself into the back of his hand.
Once he finally glanced down, he saw that it seemed to be runes of some sort, and through he tried to stay conscious, the pain got too much for him and he passed out, being caught by William before he hit the ground, one of his arms being slung over the taller boy's shoulder.
"Guess he's going to be out of it for the rest of the night then. We might as well head to bed ourselves." William said, with Louise nodding with a sigh as they walked back into the guild and towards the infirmary, setting Saito down on a bed and Louise getting on a different one, saying a quick "Good night." to the brothers before falling asleep quickly.
Once they were sure the pinkette wouldn't wake up, Marcus and William nodded, pumping their fists together and closing their eyes, focusing inward, and when they opened them again, the two seemed to be in a shared void, with both Dragon and Chimera appearing before them.
"Well, looks like thing still went as they were 'supposed' to...sorta," Marcus mused. "Now the problem is, those Runes are gonna slowly but surely turn Saito into what's basically an obedient slave or something along those lines to Louise whether they want it or not."
"And naturally you were hoping we could find a way to counter that particular aspect, correct?" Dragon chuckled.
"Well, you two ARE the super powerful magical beings with more knowledge than both of us combined." William admitted sheepishly.
"You have some sense, I'll give you that." Chimera said with a low rumble as he then turned to Dragon "I suggest putting a drop of our power into the seal, what do you think?"
"A sensible plan, and any side effects would be countered by our respective energies, and with just a drop they wouldn't be grave." Dragon said with a nod.
"How do we do that?" Marcus asked, glad they had a solution.
"Grab a jewel, any size will do, and both of you focus our energy into it, you'll then place that jewel in his hand, where it will absorb into him and our power will do the rest." Chimera explained.
"That sounds pretty simple." William noted "No drawbacks?"
"None whatsoever. At least, that SHOULD be the case, as long as nothing...unexpected happens in the seal. But assuming things go well, it should be the same as manipulating an 'Underworld', only rather than the boy, we will manipulate the Underworld of the seal itself," Dragon assured them, the brothers nodded after a moment as they came back out of the shared inner world.
Marcus went to his back, digging through it till he found one of the many small shards of jewel he wasn't sure what to make with, holding it up so his brother could see, the two holding it at the same time and focusing the magical energies of their Phantoms towards it, in just a few seconds, the simple blue jewel was now purple in color.
Making sure not to make a sound, the two of them moved over to where Saito was asleep, the runes glowing on his hand. Moving closer, they placed the jewel just over his hand, to which the jewel was soon absorbed into the runes. When it did, the runes glowed purple for a moment, the energies at war with each other, as cracks started to appear on the runes. The brothers watched with rapt attention for a few minutes...before the Runes turned blue again, the cracks healing while a small section of the rune vanished.
The let out a sigh of relief at that, glad everything seemed to have went well "Oh thank god, I was worried they were going to spread over the rest of him." Marcus said, glad the worst case scenario was avoided.
"Yeah, so, now we just need to find a decent starting sword for him that won't cost too much." William said, stretching his arms with a yawn.
"Good thing we stopped by a few smaller towns on our way here and gathered up some Jewels, we should be able to buy him something decent, maybe a magic cancelling blade if possible." Marcus said, sitting on one of the many beds of the infirmary.
"We'll keep thinking on this tomorrow. Let's just sleep for now." William said, pulling a blanket on himself "Night bro."
"Good night Will." Marcus muttered, soon falling asleep on his own bed.
And there's the chapter!
Yeahp, Louise still summons Saito, only now it's in Earthland.
And yeah, pretty sure the pairings are obvious.
But yeah, hope you enjoyed the chapter, because with that, I'll see you next time!