Chapter 4
There was a tense moment as the royals and the slave traders stared each other down.
"He said drop your weapons!" shouted one thug.
Natsu, Caspian, and Lucy ignored him, and focused their attention on Romeo and the man holding him hostage.
The man glared at them, thinking that they thought he really wouldn't kill the boy he was holding. The thug opened his mouth to threaten them all again, but the threat quickly turned to a yell of pain.
He released the boy, and began frantically patting on the leg of his pants, which had somehow caught fire. He was so busy putting it out that he didn't notice Romeo's foot until it collided with his head and knocked him unconscious.
That triggered the fight to start again, and this time the Fairy Tail members quickly mopped the floor with all of them.
Caspian took the rope the slave traders had no doubt been planning to use on them, and used it to bind up all the slave traders together.
"Now," he said, glaring down at the ones who were still conscious. "I have some questions that need answering."
The men looked up at him terrified. Some of them were muttering to one another, calling the four demons and things like that.
Hoping to clear that up Caspian stood tall and declared, "I am King Caspian the X, King of Narnia and Emperor of the Lone Islands. In that I am your Emperor, and can pass what judgment on your obvious villainy as I see fit. Therefore it is in your own best interest to answer the questions I ask, so that I may be more merciful on you."
The slave traders became even more terrified, and began groveling at the King's feet.
"Whoa," whispered Natsu to Lucy, "Caspian was almost as scary as Erza just now."
One of the still conscious thugs spoke up. "We beg your forgiveness, sire," he said loudly. "We are simply tryin' t' make and 'onest living."
"By kidnapping other people! By ripping them from their lives and forcing them to do labor! Just to line your own pockets! You disgust me!" Lucy snarled angrily. She hated the idea of slavery. Not only was it wrong in a moral sense, it reminded her too much of how some Celestial Wizards treated their Spirits. Not to mention the attempt the Fake Salamander had made to make her into a slave, if Natsu and Happy hadn't come to her rescue. As well as Erza's painful past.
The man wilted a bit at the glare she was leveling on him, before getting huffy. "Now listen here, wench-"
Caspian leveled his sword at the thug's throat. "You would do well to watch your tongue. She is Lucy the Radiant, a Queen of Narnia, and as such demands your respect."
The thug wilted even more, and gulped before saying. "I-I meant no offence, y-your majesties. What I was s-sayin' was, my men an' I were only doin' business as Governor Gumpas permits, sire."
Caspian retracted his blade at this revelation, and stared at the ground thoughtfully. "I had known communications between here and Narnia were silent for the last one hundred, but never did I imagine it would lay way to such dealings as this."
Lucy moved forward and placed a hand on Caspian's shoulder. "It's not your fault, Caspian. You didn't know. At least you came to find out, and can change it now."
Caspian nodded slowly. "Then we best make hast to the Governor's mansion. Things are in dire need of change."
"Okay," said Romeo, still glaring down at the slave traders. "But what are we gonna do with them?"
Natsu glanced up, and saw that the gatehouse had several very large and dusty old birdcages hanging by chains from the ceiling.
His face broke into a devious grin. "I've got an idea."
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A few minutes later all the slave traders were stuffed into the three of the birdcages, and the locks were welded shut to prevent them from escaping, or for any of their buddies to bust them out.
The four then hurried on to the Governor's mansion to fix the things that were rotten in the Lone Islands.
When they reached the mansion's gate, Natsu pounded on the door. "Hey Old Geezer, Open Up!" he shouted.
The door was opened by a short and dirty old man, who blinked at them owlishly. "Ye cann' see 'is seviciency," the man drawled. "No interviews without 'pointments 'cept 'tween nine 'n' ten p.m. second Saturday every month."
"He will see his king," said Caspian darkly, as they shoved past the man.
After distracting the guards, by Caspian ordering them to all drink wine in their honor (much to the guards' delight), they reached the Governor's office.
The office was lavishly decorated and reminded Lucy of her father's own office, where he used to spend all his time working. Governor Gumpas proved to be a fat man dressed in finery that sat behind a desk and barely gave them a passing glance as they entered.
"No interviews without appointments except between nine and ten p.m. on second Saturdays," he said with dismissal in his voice, before returning to his paperwork.
Natsu was not used to being ignored. With a quick jump kick he smashed the fat man's desk in half, then threw the man at Caspian's feet, leaving him no choice but to look up at them.
Caspian glared down at the man who had allowed part of his country become allied with the likes of slave traders.
"My Lord," he said in a sharp but polite voice. "You have not given us quite the welcome we expected. We are the Kings of Narnia."
The governor sniffed at him in contempt. "Nothing about it in the correspondence. Nothing in the minutes. We have not been notified of any such thing."
"And we are to inquire of the sufficiency of your office," snapped Caspian, cutting him off. "There are two points especially on which I require explanation. Firstly I find no record that the tribute due from these Islands to the crown of Narnia has been received for about a hundred years."
The fat man began babbling nonsense about bringing the question up at the next council, and motioning for further inquiry.
Lucy wasn't fooled. She knew the governor was just saying that to put it off to be forgotten about for another hundred years.
"You really should be more worried about the lack of tribute," said Lucy calmly, though she was glaring at the man. "It's clearly written in our laws that if the islands' tribute isn't paid, the debt is to be covered by the Governor of the Lone Islands' own finances."
At the threat of loosing money, Gumpas immediately sat up and started paying more attention. "Oh, that is quite out of the question," he said, starting to sweat. "It is an economic impossibility-er-your majesty must be joking."
Lucy went to a nearby bookshelf and plucked a copy of the Islands laws off the shelf. Laws that she herself had helped write. She flipped though the pages till she found the passage she was looking for and held it out for the fat governor to see. "Nope, read it and weep."
The governor took the book and quickly read the page she'd pointed too, and looked like he really would start weeping.
Not giving him time to think too much, Caspian continued. "Secondly, I want to know why you have permitted this abomination and unnatural traffic in slaves to grow up here, contrary to the ancient custom and usage of our dominions."
At this the Gumpas gave Caspian a strained smile, and made a flowery speech about progress, and how Caspian was too young to understand such necessities.
Most of it went over Natsu's head, but what he did understand was that this fat idiot was talking about selling human lives as if they were nothing more then furniture.
Fed up with the man's prattling, Natsu punched him in the face. "If that's your idea of progress, I say we need to go back a few years. Back to when bastards like you were treated like bastards."
"I agree whole heartedly," said Caspian, not even reprimanding Natsu for the punch. "Gumpas, as of right now you are relieved of your post, and relieved of your entitlements. From here on out there will be no more trading of slaves upon soil that belongs to Narnia."
The former governor tried to protest, but another punch from Natsu knocked him out.
"Thanks, Natsu-nii," said Romeo as the fat man started fell to the ground. "His voice was giving me a headache."
"Me too," Natsu agreed.
"Aye," Lucy found herself saying. Upon realizing that she scowled, "That stupid cat, now he has me saying it."
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Back by the shore, Happy sneezed.
"Gazuntite," said Reepicheep.
Happy sniffed. "Aye, someone must be talking about me."
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After that, Natsu, Lucy, Caspian, and Romeo returned to their friends by the shore. Natsu dragging Gumpas along behind him, in order to keep him from making any grabs at power.
After the situation was explained, they and all of their men hurried to where one of the slave traders had said their market was. They made quick work on capturing the remaining slave traders, and freeing all the captured slaves.
Among the people held prisoner, a man stepped forward towards Caspian, claiming his face was familiar to him.
Though he was years older, Caspian recognized him from the pictures. "Lord Bern?"
It turns out the man was indeed Lord Bern, who had been trying to use his status as Lord to stop Gumpas from his slave trading, but had ended up captured and intended for a slave instead.
He fell to Caspian's feet and wept, begging his forgiveness for not returning to Narnia, for not trying to stop the slave trade sooner, for not knowing where his other six companions had gone after they had sailed on east, and for anything else he could think off.
It took Caspian several minutes to convince the man that he forgave him.
Caspian knew he had to replace Gumpas with someone he could trust to look after the Lone Islands, and Bern's heartfelt apology, while awkward, helped make him seem like a good candidate. He sent Bern up to the Governor's Mansion to give him his title later, once he'd calmed down.
Caspian then joined the Fairy Tail Wizards, who were discussing what to do with Gumpas and the slave traders.
"We can't just let them go," said Lucy, thoughtfully. "They'll just start stirring up trouble again once we leave."
"Why don't we just throw them in jail?" asked Happy.
Romeo shook his head. "You saw them, Happy. The slave traders have been running this jail for years. I bet they would know exactly how to break out if we put them there."
"Why don't we just beat 'em up?" suggested Natsu eagerly.
"Is violence your answer for everything?" asked Lucy, giving him an unimpressed look.
"Well we have to do something," said Caspian, as he came up to them.
"If I may, sire," said one former slave, stepping forward. "I believe the best possible punishment for them would be exile."
They all looked at him in confusion. "But who's to stop them from coming right back?" asked Lucy.
"Set them adrift without paddles," said another former slave. "The current is strong enough to pull them to the mainland in a week or so."
"That is what the always did with the slaves they couldn't sell," said a third. "It seems like a fitting punishment."
The five exchanged glances and shrugged. It sounded like a good enough plan.
"Gather enough water and food for these men to be adrift for over a week," Caspian ordered his men. "We will set them off as soon as possible."
He and the rest of his company failed to notice the looks of horror that dawned on Gumpas and the traders' faces. Nor did they see the vengeful smirks that now adorn the expressions of many of the former slaves.
The Fairy Tail Wizards then accompanied Caspian back to the governor's mansion. When they got there, they interviewed Bern for the position of looking over the islands. It soon became clear he was an honest and kind hearted soul, and Caspian made him the new Duke of the Lone Islands.
Upon this title being bestowed upon him, Bern looked at Caspian with grateful eyes. "I thank you, your majesty. Rest assured, my first order of business will be to rid these islands, of people like Gumpas and the slave traders."
Natsu grinned. "No need to worry about that, we already took care of it."
At Bern's questioning look, Caspian explained, "At the suggestion of some of the former slaves, we've decided to exile them all from the islands without paddles. The current would take them to the main land."
Bern's face turned pale. "No! No, my King, do you not know?"
They all looked at him in confusion. "Know what?" asked Caspian.
Upon hearing that, Bern bolted from the mansion, and headed back towards the shore. Wanting to know what had upset him, the rest of them followed.
They reached the shore just as Caspian's men were pushing the boat with the prisoners on it away.
"No, we're too late," said Bern in despair.
"Too late for what?" asked Lucy.
Bern only pointed to the boat that was drifting father and farther away from them. The men on the boat were panicking, but none had dared to jump off the boat.
Suddenly the sky turned dark, and the waves became choppy. Then out of nowhere a green mist appeared on the sea.
Natsu stiffened and stared at the fog intensely, and beside him Lucy asked, "What?"
"There are voices whispering in that fog," he hissed, as he strained his ears. "I can't hear what they're saying, but it doesn't sound good."
The mist was swarming towards the boat. The men in the boat where screaming in terror as it encroached upon them. Before the Fairy Tail members' eyes the fog seemed to swallow the boat whole, screaming men and all.
And just as suddenly as it appeared, the mist vanished back out into the sea, taking the boat with them.
The crew of the Dawn Treader was speechless for several minutes, before Caspian rounded on a group of people he recognized as the former slaves.
"What was that?!" he demanded. "What did you have me sentence those men to?"
The former slaves had the decency to look ashamed, but none spoke up.
"No one knows, sire," said Bern quietly, drawing all attention to him. "The mist just appeared one day, making entire boats of sailors go missing. Gumpas saw this as bad for the slave trading business, so he ordered all the slaves who would not sell to be sacrificed to the mist, so as to allow passage for other ships to the islands."
"But where did it come from?" asked Lucy. "Why is it taking people?"
Lord Bern sighed sadly. "I'm afraid no one knows the answers to any of those questions, my Queen. We only know that the mist comes from the East, and vanishes back into that direction once it is fed."
Caspian, Lucy, and Natsu all exchanged glances. They knew they could not let this continue.
"We are heading east to seek out your fellow Lords, Duke Bern," said Caspian, he then raised his voice so that the rest of the gathered crowd could hear him. "And as we go, I swear the solemn vow of the stars, that we will find what is causing this mist and put a stop to it. As well as rescue all who have been sacrificed if we can. This I swear to you."
"I promise too," said Lucy.
"Me three! You can count on us!" shouted Natsu.
"Aye!" yelled Happy and Romeo.
Everyone started cheering at this news. From the crowd a man ran forward, and kneeled before Caspian.
"Your majesties, I my name is Rhince," he said, with an air of desperation in his voice. "Please, my wife, Helaine, was taken by the mist in the last sacrifice. I swore to her that I would find her." He looked up with desperate eyes. "Please, please let me be apart of your crew, and seek her out."
Natsu needed no further convincing. He gave the man a wide grin and said, "Of course you can come. You can help us kick that mist monster's ass."
Lucy and Caspian nodded in agreement, and Rhince broke into a relieved smile.
Suddenly a shout broke out among the crowd. Looking up they saw that several of the onlookers were pointing at the sea again in a panic.
Looking behind them, they saw that the water just off shore was glowing brightly.
"What now?" asked Lucy worriedly.
"I have seen that glow before," said Caspian softly, as he gazed at the sea in wonder.
Suddenly the glowing stopped, and Natsu's jaw dropped at what happened next. "What the heck?!"
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A/N cliffhangers, I solve one and leave you with another, ain't I a stinker. I decided to keep the green mist from the movie, but I'm not going to have the bit about the seven swords, I thought that part of it was too cheesy. I'm not going to add Gael though, even tough she's cute. The parts with the former governor are from the book.
Reviews are your way of telling the cliffhangers to get lost.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.